Of all the social networking sites (including the ones you get paid for) my favorite remains facebook.com. For several reasons:
It was one of the first sites I joined It’s the easiest way I stay in touch with my friends and relatives all over the world It reminds me when it is somebody’s birthday It started in the college community so the people on that site tend to be more mature Force of habit
Now, as I mentioned on the fourth bullet point, it started in the college community, so there is a greater population of professionals on there (including professors, surprisingly) than, let’s say, MySpace for example. Unfortunately, even with this level of maturity, you will find people engaging in the most childish things, and from the observation of these common quirks, I have complied this list of the Top 10 Facebook Clichés.
Posting that you’re “married to” your current, new best friend at the moment, especially if the person is of the same sex as you. I often see this among females moreso than males. I can’t explain this phenomenon of disproportionality, but it’s something I’ve noticed. Posting your favorite celebrity, athlete, team or politician as your profile picture…All right, people! We get it! Manchester United is what’s hot these days. Give it a rest! Song lyrics in the “favorite quotes” section. Seriously, if I read “Only make moves when your heart is in it, and live the phrase ‘Sky’s the limit’” -Notorious BIG one more time, I…I’m going to…stop…reading people’s quotes like the loser I am…OK, let’s move on. Changing your facebook status 5 times a day. I get that facebook is like a new toy to some people. I admit, that when I first got it, I played around with it quite frequently to get the feel of it, and because I enjoyed finding out that someone I know was also a part of the network…But when you’re SUPPOSED TO BE AT WORK!!! Your status should not change from “Bob is at work” to “Bob is at lunch” to “Bob just had the best iced coffee in the world” to “Bob can’t believe what some people would wear to the office” to “Bob just found out that he got a raise” to “Bob will be leaving the office in half an hour TGIF!!!”…Seriously, people! NOT EVEN YOUR MOM cares that much about what you’re doing every second of the day! They are obviously not giving you enough to do at that job! Why are you on facebook at work, anyway? Trying to keep your stalker updated? WTF?! The Poke. It was overdone when facebook was first launched. Hoards of college kids giggled mischieviously at the idea of randomly “poking people”…(giggle…she said, “poke”). People lobbied facebook to add the option of “smashing”, “dropkicking”, “tickling”, “hugging”, “humping”, “owning”, and whatever else silly thing they could do to entertain themselves at the expense of whoever would be receiving the useless gesture. Surprisingly, this function is still getting it’s share of use, as I have been poked 13 times since I switched accounts…Seriously, people…Enough already! The Photoshopped profile picture. Maybe it’s because everyone secretly wants to be on the cover of a magazine, but seriously people, leave the abstract art to the professionals. I’m seeing photos blurred, glossed, black & white, upside down, with the title “America’s Next Top Model” written across the top. Vanity, thy name is facebook. The Topless profile picture. This is a predominantly male phenomenon. I will not be biased in my criticism of this. Men, do you know what it says when you have topless pictures of yourself online? To me, at least, it says “I’m desperate”. Online is just like in real life. If all you have to offer are your physical features…Well, that’s not true. I’ve seen 1 or 2 topless men who also happen to be phD or doctorate degree holders, one was at the beach and the other may have just gotten back from the gym from the looks of the picture. It’s still shameless though. The baby picture profile picture. I’m not sure if you just had a kid or if that is you as a kid, but either way, the picture is irrelevant. The “I’m-too-sexy-for-this-picture-profile-picture”. Girls in bikinis, people wearing sunglasses, guys with their hands on their chins. If you’re looking off into the distance, or asleep in your picture, you also fall into this category. and finally Inventing 100 ridiculous groups that nobody cares about. College people do like congregating. Even when I was living on campus, there was the Anime club, the sketch comedy troop, the hip hop dancers, the school’s step team, the martial arts guys, the young hackers of America. But when you give people the power of the internet, there is no limit to the frivolous group making. You begin to see the “People who like the color blue”, “Join this group if you think facebook is cool”, “David Hasselhoff appreciation society”, “Who invented tacos?”, “I am the coolest person alive”…and just an endless sea of useless groups.
Now, because I have already limited this list to the standard number of 10 items, I will stop here. However, there are countless other clichés that you will find on facebook including “Bible verse in the ‘About Me’ section” and the “Adding phrases to your name like John TheGREATESTofALLtime Jones or Theresa FIERCENESS Williams”, not to mention “Random photo album filled with pictures I took of myself in a public restroom (Why?!)” trends. But I guess you’ll have to find out yourself by joining the facebook community. There is no end to the craziness you will find.