First, as people get older, they want to put on a front of happiness for their friends and family, because happiness gets externally equated with success; likely very few people are judged to be a success that label themselves unhappy. I think it's also easy to call one's self happy to mask the unhappy realization over time that one is not going to be the wealthiest, most famous, magnanimous king/queen of the world. "Oh, I'm so happy!" To which we should all say, compared to what?

With regard to sex, nobody wants to think that grandma and grandpa, much less mom and dad, are doing it. And even though the word "sex" can somewhat be equated with the act, in the context of Facebook, it could be as simple as "Here's a picture of me with 'Celebrity X' in 2007 - wonder how many Ladeeez he had sex with LOL" or something equally innocuous. Also, I'd say younger people are less comfortable with their sexuality, and so are therefore more likely to wear it on their Facebook sleeve. And let's face it, younger people generally have less to lose by being more overtly sexual; in a room full of twentysomethings, nobody is going to lift an eyebrow at somebody who just walks up to a prospective partner and declares his/her full-voiced desire to perform an act with him/her. However, take a fortysomething and a twentysomething and put them in a public situation (say the bar at Gordon Ramsay Steak), and the perception is going to be a bit different. So, as you'll understand when you hit 30, the first rule of Fight Club is, don't talk about Fight Club.

It's an interesting hypothesis, but I don't think any useful conclusions can be drawn.

miserable old fuck