A defining problem of our cultural moment: Sometimes, as I stare at my Facebook profile, I have no idea what to write in my “Status Update.” It got me thinking, Do the candidates suffer from the same social-networking ennui as I do? Which presidential candidates update their status on Facebook? I found that only Chris Dodd, Joe Biden, Dennis Kucinich, Barack Obama, Sam Brownback, Mike Huckabee, and Mitt Romney update their status.

It’s often a wasted opportunity: since status messages are incorporated into your friends' feeds, this would be a simple and easy way to communicate to supporters. Yet the candidates' messages are almost always updates about location — Biden and Dodd are in Iowa, Brownback is in South Carolina, and Romney is traveling through Michigan, Georgia, and Florida today. But Obama goes a step further, writing that he “is excited that Students for Barack Obama recently formed their 500th chapter.”

Sometimes something absolutely sublime is posted, like Kucinich’s status, which had me rolling on the floor: “Dennis Kucinich is …anybody know? I think he’s on his way to NH for a full day of campaigning tomorrow.”