SUMMARY
This paper examines everyday linguistic creativity and humour in Facebook status updates.Analysis of the updates, collected in 2011 from 60 UK users, shows how people achieve particularhumorous tones through creative combinations of lexis and syntax, adding reinforcementssuch as innovative punctuation to tighten the construction of the update. The linguisticfeatures they use are not in themselves novel, but the creativity lies in the individuals' effectiveselection and use of them. The language is often playful, but the whole performance has aserious purpose: people invite a sympathetic perspective on themselves. Humour, particularlyself-deprecation, is used to construct a personal narrative and thus perform their identity. Inshort, the paper celebrates the capacity of ordinary people to seize opportunities for usinglanguage skilfully and creatively to represent themselves and their lives.