Is this simply a sign of immaturity? Or could it be a sign of alcoholism?

Could be both, but ” friends ” on Facebook are not really your friends so you really can not tell first hand.

Perhaps that is FB standard behavior?

It’s not for me. But unlike most of my friends, I quit drinking in my very early 20s so that “fun with booze” stage most likely much earlier than most peoples.

Just adults still wanting to be ‘cool’, probably. Insecurity.

I think it depends. I have some friends who will go out on weekends, get very drunk, and might post photos like that on Facebook for documentation (though why they feel the need to document is beyond me, but it could be that I don’t recognize the fun in it because I have never been a drinker.) Other friends I know get black-out drunk on a regular basis, or drink excessively every night, with Facebook documentation. The second type is the one that I would consider unquestioningly alcoholic.

On one pole, I have colleagues who might upload a snapshot of the glass of wine they are drinking to accompany their stack of grades. The other, a mountain of bottles, cans. I think the difference in quantity, frequency, and attitude makes a difference.

It is definitely a not-very-mature display; whether it is alcoholism or not isn’t really a concern nor is it an excuse.

When I was an active alcoholic I didn’t have pictures taken of me holding bottles. And I did seem to have quite a few pictures into my mid 20s where I was holding a drink, but that was just in my hand, not that I was showing it off.

Both. Some people never really “grow up,” you know. Know who you are. Don’t let them influence you.

I’m a bit old to be influenced by them. I was asking because I was ambivalent about meeting one of these old friends after over 20 years. I pictured her trying to recreate some night we spent in college and her wanting to get trashed and stay up til dawn listening to loud music. I can even picture her trying to pick up 21 year old boys. And the idea sounded horrible.

And then I thought darker thoughts. What if she still drinks like we did in college? 20 years of hard drinking would really affect someone. And I didn’t want to ask.. “Hey, so are you on the verge of Leaving Las Vegas? Or are you just an immature twit trying to pretend she’s still a kid?” or “So is your Facebook profile a parody of a drunken frat boy’s or what?”

As a raging, unrepentant alcoholic myself I can tell you, unequivocally, that their behavior is still that of a rookie drinker who hasn’t learned that it’s about the buzz not the container it comes in.

^ This.

I second what @Blondesjon said. A hardcore alcoholic probably doesn’t give much of a shit about the whole party aspect thing, and many alcoholics will drink alone, or during times that are usually not associated with partying, like in the morning, or during work. That doesn’t mean those people may not have an alcohol problem to be sure, but in my personal experience with alcohol problems, the last thing I wanna do is tell the whole world about it. Alcoholics use alcohol as a means of escape or because they feel they cope better with it, and it becomes a part of their daily lives. Being an alcoholic is not about having a good time, whether the alcoholic knows this or not.

I also don’t think it’s immature for people in their forties to have fun with booze every now and then. It’s not immature to post pictures of it. Everyone’s entitled to a little fun and silliness every now and then.

Also; fuck duck faces.

Fuck em good.

This is the mark of an attention seeker. Since she posts about her weekend benders I’d also gather that she’s pretty low on emotional intelligence.

I agree with @Blondesjon. And will add that most of the female alcoholics I know (and I know a ton of them) tend to lean toward closet drinking, not in your face “party girl” type behavior. Party girl is attention seeking behavior. Whereas most alcoholics are seeking either to self medicate, looking for the buzz, or are wallowing alone in self-pity.

I’m also a drunk. Sometimes I post pictures of my desk to get “nerd cred”. I always hide my cans first. I don’t take pride in my alcoholism.

I don’t drink much, never have really. Break out the Bud on weekends when watching football/boxing.
I only ever get proper drunk on my birthday & at xmas, that’s more or less written in stone.
One thing is clear though, poser drunks are fucking tools who play in the iddy biddy league, sit down & shut the fuck up!

@johnpowell . . . You should take pride in everything you do well.

If I flaunt it my family might interrupt my drinking with a intervention. Unacceptable.

I’m so very, very sorry man.

i’ve always secretly wanted one myself.

Immature behavior like that, at that age, is a problem. Yes, they need to stop acting like juveniles, grow up, and act decent.

If it’s just occasional happy-happy-fun-times, I wouldn’t worry about it in terms of maturity or alcoholism. I’ve been known to get tipsy myself and go on a ridiculous FB rip (sans pictures, but still), and I’m a responsible adult who rarely drinks. We all have our moments of silliness.

If it’s constant, I’d be more inclined to lean toward immaturity as the culprit.

I always think of it as saying “Cheers!” to the camera, and whoever is looking at the photo.

Maybe I’m just a dork.