When a social networking system receives content describing a user via a client device associated with the user, the social networking system determines a state describing a characteristic of the user from the content. One or more options for generating a content item associated with the determined state are provided to the client device for presentation to the user, and the options may be based in part on the determined state. Based on the state and selection of one or more of the options, a content item is generated and provided to one or more client devices for presentation to social networking system users. By interacting with the content item, users may view additional information about the state or perform actions associated with the state.