It all started when my friend Deanna did it. Since I take cues from others, I thought about it long and hard. Was making a public page for myself on Facebook a bizarrely egotistical thing to do, or a smart professional decision?

Once I decided on the latter, the big questions about self-definition began.

Am I an artist, band, or public figure?

Nope.

But am I local business or place?

Neh.

So, am I “entertainment”?

I don’t try to be.

As I weighed my options (six, if you’re counting) I found that, much like in SAT analogy practice, it wasn’t a matter of perfect fitting, but best fitting. I soon discovered I was (absurdly) most similar to a public figure. {insert laugh track}

I also realized there was a better way to think about the question, that went a bit like this:

Do I want my professional contacts to see the forty photos I uploaded three years ago that still remain the only photo album I have on Facebook?

No.

Do I want my professional contacts to see stupid things that my favorite idiots (read: my brother, my friends) post on my wall to goad me into responding?

No.

Worst of all, do I want my professional contacts to see the pictures of me that others take, post, and tag me in where I’m so clearly fat-girl-on-the-end and/or otherwise look like an upturned garbage can?

No. (Also: Yes, I know there’s some setting that fixes this problem, and I swear I set it…but you can never be too sure)

Finally, do I want people who I’d like to be hear my updates to have to wait for me to sort through my personalized Facebook requests — a task that increasingly gets shoved to the bottom of my to-do list?

No.

For these reasons, and because she did it, I now have a public figure profile on Facebook.

Enjoy (oh — and please “like” me! because if you don’t, none of this was worth it.)

Postscript:

No, the sum of me is not encapsulated in my personal profile on Facebook. The sum of me is also not encapsulated by my (new) public profile on Facebook. But it’s a start.