I’ve not been entirely comfortable with Facebook in the past. There is something about the whole enforced wackiness of it all that makes me slightly uneasy. I mean, I like you and all, but I don’t think we’re at a point in our relationship where turning each other into zombies and “super poking” each other is socially appropriate. I haven’t even been introduced to your mother.
My brother even goes around “peeing” on people for gods sake. How unseemly.
I went so far as deleting my account a month or so ago in a fit of curmudgeonly pique. However I soon discovered that all my friends had started arranging their social lives on it and so had to reinstate myself or face a life of hermitdom.
And now I’m back I’ve learned to stop worrying and love the social network. Bec and NYC Watchdog threw chocolate cakes and christmas elfs at me the other day and I didn’t even feel the need to ask them for character references.
The amount of applications you are invited to install can be somewhat bewildering though. Recently I received a message telling me that I had been compared to various other people on facebook and would I like to see the results blah blah blah. After skillfully avoiding irritating my entire friends list by allowing the application to bombard them with junk mail I had a look at what other people thought of me.
And let me tell you this: the lot of you bastards are off my Christmas card list, effective immediately. Granted, some of the categories were rather gratifying. I got 100% for “would make a better father”, “funnier”, and “smarter”. But that is absolutely no compensation to the 0% I got for “better hair”, “smells nicer” and “more athletic”. How bloody dare you!
I am currently seeking legal advice on this matter. Expect a letter from my lawyer shortly.
In the meantime, if you fancy adding me on facebook you can find me here. Please do as Kerry currently has more friends than me and this is quite frankly intolerable.
on Dec 12th, 2007 at 12:25 am
I have had whole flocks of sheep lobbed at me so I randomly go o n an attack run through my friends list. I would be quite happy if they removed all of the applications (except Scrabulous - that has become an addiction) and just use them to send drinks to people in the hope that when I see them in the pub they will be confused into thinking they were real and buy me buckets of multi-coloured liquids in return.
If the elf is making a mess just chuck it back.
on Dec 12th, 2007 at 12:46 am
People leave me milk and cookies. Perhaps you should be nicer.
on Dec 12th, 2007 at 1:15 am
I only use facebook for finding teenagers who want to sleep with me.
on Dec 12th, 2007 at 1:21 am
if I don’t get 5 application invitations my day just isn’t complete. ;)
on Dec 12th, 2007 at 4:59 am
its all fun and games until you try to contact your ex girlfriends and then your current finds out.
on Dec 12th, 2007 at 10:10 am
I did exactly the same - I deleted my account, then realised that nobody actually talks to each other any more, and I was missing out on so many things. Whether that speaks more about Facebook’s disruption of modern communication techniques, or that my friends are bastards, I don’t really know.
I find the applications quite annoying, but it’s actually quite easy to block them - just go to the application’s page, and on the right hand side is a “block application” link. Two clicks, and you won’t hear from it again. You wouldn’t irritate your friends by blocking these apps - chances are they’ve just blanket emailed their entire friends list. Or maybe that’s just the cynic in me talking.
I ought to purge my friends list of people I don’t talk to (or don’t actually know). I sense great catharsis approaching!
But thinking about it, how do I decide whether or not to keep people on my friends list? At what point do they stop being “people I don’t talk to”, and instead become “people who interest me”?
I think I might apply the following technique: If I’d rather watch a re-run of The Simpsons than go to their funeral, they’re off the list. That ought to do it.
:D
on Dec 12th, 2007 at 2:23 pm
Oli - But using those criteria i wouldn’t have any friends.
on Dec 12th, 2007 at 3:07 pm
I haven’t done a lot of poking or gift giving either. And I’m a little overwhelmed with the applications too. I definitely don’t want the to compare myself to other people. I might start throwing snowballs soon though.
on Dec 12th, 2007 at 3:28 pm
I am on Myspace. When I first got on I thought it was pretty fun and a good way of finding old friends. Now, like any fad, I’m pretty bored with it. Oh, well. Maybe I am a teenager after all…
on Dec 13th, 2007 at 6:00 am
Oh go on then. I’ve stubbornly resisted all attempts to get me on superpoke etc and still feel that I’m committing some kind of amorphous adultery whenever I pole someone but I do have a level 4 hypnotic vampire. Rrrr etc.
on Dec 13th, 2007 at 11:01 am
Very good point Dan.
After twenty minutes of “friend” purging, I had reduced my friends list by around 50, and I still hadn’t ventured further than “D” before getting bored.
Q-Z, you’re safe. For now.
(un)relaxeddad - there’s an option to “pole” someone? Maybe I should do that instead of just removing them from my list. Steel pole? Bamboo pole?
on Dec 14th, 2007 at 2:38 am
got a Dutch version of Facebook called Hyves over here..I’m almost completely passive beyond now and than accepting people as friends.
The only usefull thing about it is if you’re searching for someone in the Netherlands, and they’re below the age of 40, you’re almost 90% certain to find them on Hyves (also helpfull to check out if a girl has a boyfriend already..without having to find out slowly, or asking it bluntly ;) )
Arjan’s last blog post..Upcoming…
on Dec 14th, 2007 at 9:31 pm
[...] adds a link to the most recent entry from their own blog at the bottom of the comment. Here’s an example of it in action. Unfortunately it will only link to blogs which have RSS feeds available (So Greg, [...]
on Jul 25th, 2008 at 9:35 pm
no one can say for sure if you are right or wrong. I will read a second time and let you know my opinion
on Aug 22nd, 2008 at 7:13 pm
i think myspace is a social tool for people who hide behind pictures and words, its easy to say whatever you want when typing on a keyboard.