The Modern Quinceanera’s Guide to Online Profiles for the Big Event

 We all know that in this day in age, technology allows us to  share even the most mundane occurrences worldwide as  they happen –what media experts call “real-time  communication”– via social networking sites such as Twitter,  Facebook and of course MySpace.

But what we at Quinceanera.com are interested in is… how  can we use these wonderful tools in the Quinceañera  celebration? Below are some fun ideas that will help your Quince bash become a truly “communal” event.

Twitter
This site is mostly used to send brief, 140-character “tweets” to your followers. Assuming you have a Twitter account, you can use this social medium to send out brief updates on just about anything you happen to be doing at the moment… that is pretty much the nature of this site!

For Planning: Twitter can be used to recommend an exceptionally wonderful service provider, such as a delicious cake baker or a very helpful tailor… and you can also use the site to share a less than perfect experience. You can also get advice and recommendations by doing a simple search to see what everyone else is saying about this topic.

For the Event Day: It’s a fun idea to assign someone who isn’t part of your Quince court and who’s good with words to do your “tweeting” from a mobile phone for you. He/she can update about all of the significant moments such as the mass, the  father/daughter waltz, and of course all of the fun and interesting things that happen in between.

Facebook
This is a more flexible site than Twitter because it allows you to upload photos in addition to a description of your event. Also, since Facebook is already widely used by many, chances are your relatives across the US and in other countries already have an account, so it’ll be easy for you to share with them.

For Planning: Facebook has some 500 “Quinceanera groups” that are like online communities that specialize in helping other quinceaneras such as yourself. If you find that none of these groups suits you, you can always create your own group and offer tips/advice that you think other quinceaneras will find useful.

For the Event Day: Again, you might want to assign someone with a mobile phone who will not be busy with any other part of the celebration to take pictures and upload them to your facebook profile, with a brief caption detailing what is happening in that particular photo. This is a great way to share your celebration with relatives who live abroad, and weren’t able to make it to your event.

Caution: Since constant “status updates” on Facebook can get annoying, be sure to only upload photos and document the truly significant moments.

MySpace
Of the three sites we’ve mentioned, MySpace is perhaps the most popular among friends your age… which means that they’ll probably all be at your celebration anyway, so you don’t need to worry about keeping them updated. Since MySpace isn’t designed like Facebook and Twitter to notify your “friends” every time you post something new on your wall, we recommend that you don’t use it at all until after the event. MySpace allows you to create some beautiful photo collages and slideshows, which you can arrange and display on your MySpace page after your event.

Caution: Be sure to only upload flattering photos of yourself and your loved ones. You never know who might end up receiving that picture of you pretending to toss down some of that Patron that someone snuck in…

This post is also available in: Spanish