Rob Ryan
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
The opinions represented in this article do not necessarily represent those of the staff of CUIndependent.com nor any of its sponsors.
If you've logged on to Facebook in the last month or so, chances are you've been tagged by a note with a title something along the lines of "25 things." These notes have decended upon Facebook like so many locusts, even managing to spill their way onto the pages of USA Today not too long ago. Well, I for one will have no part of it, and I'll give you 25 reasons why.
1. They’re a waste of time: Yes, I realize Facebook is, by definition, a waste of time, but, even on Facebook, I can think of better things to do with my time than think of 25 random facts that maybe 12 people will care about.
2. They waste other people’s time: If you tag someone in the note, they feel compelled to waste their time writing one because you took the time to do it yourself. It’s a guilt trip.
3. They’re annoying: I don’t want to have myself tagged over and over and over again in these notes when they have nothing to do with me.
4. They’re self-indulgent: Let’s see…how can improve my self-esteem without actually doing anything concrete or productive…? I know! I’ll write 25 things about myself that make me feel all warm and fuzzy inside.
5. They’re pretentious: Saying something is self-indulgent and pretentious is kind of redundant, but those notes scream to the world: “Look how cool/funny/special/sentime
6. They don’t really contribute anything of worth to a relationship: The preface in all of these notes goes something along the lines of: “So I want you all to know a little more about me, and I want to know a little bit more about you so write your own.” The problem with this theory is that writing Facebook notes hardly qualifies as meaningful interaction, which is what real friendships and relationships are built on.
7. They state the obvious: “I love my friends.” Well, they wouldn’t be your friends if you didn’t. “I’m nervous about the future and/or graduating.” The economy sucks and we’re college students; we’re all nervous.
8. They’re riddled with clichés: Similarly to number seven, these notes are filled with trite comments such as “I love my cat/dog/reptile/horse/obno
9. They say things that are already somewhere else: Let’s face it, Facebook gives users ample opportunities to put up all kinds of information. But it tends to get repeated in different variations or in different applications. The main page asks you to list your interests and activities, so you list them there, only to metaphorically stutter and list them again in your “25 things” notes. Nothing new has been added.
10. They’re just another in a long line of equally pointless Facebook fads: Quizzes about yourself that you send on to your friends, the “ABCs of randomness” I got from my ex-girlfriend, an even longer “50 things about me,” -- the list doesn’t stop. I didn’t do any of those then, and I’m certainly not about to start now.
11. They pigeonhole people’s identities: Allow me to wax philosophic for a moment. People aren’t statistics, and you can’t sum them up with a series of statements, facts or goals. Getting to really know someone requires effort and a lot of face-to-face time. This trend of trying to make everyone fit in a neat little statistical box and simply communicating via text or instant messaging isn’t healthy.
12. I don’t really want to know about some these people: I’ll be frank here by saying that of my 150 or so Facebook friends, I regularly talk to or care about maybe 20 of them. I’ll check in on the rest of them every once in a while and wish them happy birthday or whatever, but I don’t need to hear from the rest of them. I honestly just do not care, and I certainly don’t need their miniature life story wasting my bandwidth.
13. There’s no reward for taking the time to write one: Seriously, what would I get out of doing this? I don’t work for free.
14. They’re boring to read: Life goals…yawn. Favorite sports team….yeah, okay. Best class in school….give me a break.
15. They don’t even do what they’re supposed to do: I’m guessing the originator of “25 things” thought, “This will be a great way for people to find out more about their friends.” But the notes I’ve seen are mostly comprised of the aforementioned clichés or stupidly obvious information. It’s rare to see something that actually sheds a new or different light on someone.
16. They promote the continuing erosion of personal privacy: This might be a stretch, but hear me out. Thanks to the Internet and iPhones and all that jazz, people are in contact with each more than ever. Some people like the constant contact but you know what? I like my private time; I don’t need to be in uninterrupted communication with everyone I know. And Facebook notes asking me to put up information on myself are another intrusion on my privacy. Call me paranoid, but I don’t feel the need to broadcast information about myself to the entire world.
17. My own note, were I to write one, would be boring: I think I’m unique in many ways, but most of them aren’t interesting to other people. Why waste their time and energy as well as my own?
18. They don’t strike me as very fun: I’ll admit that I often do things that may not be very beneficial for me for the simple reason that they’re fun (World of Warcraft comes to mind). I’ve already mentioned the reasons why writing a “25 things” note wouldn’t be beneficial, but it also doesn’t strike me as any fun.
19. I’m rather embarrassed of my previous attempts at Facebook notes: I’ll admit it, I once posted a pseudo-emo rant and rave about a couple things that were pissing me off, including (cough) the Campus Press. Those of you privileged enough to be my Facebook friends can look it up. It’s one of my lesser moments as a writer, and I’d rather not tempt fate by trying again.
20. I’d rather not spend more time on Facebook than absolutely necessary: I have friends (real friends, not Facebook friends) who devote entirely too much of their days on Facebook. To paraphrase Jerry Seinfeld, there’s nothing wrong with that; I just don’t want to be one of those people.
21. There are better timewasters on the Internet: Spring training has started, I have to look up some movie on IMDB and watching the ShamWow commercial on YouTube never gets old. No time for Facebook notes.
22. Have I mentioned they’re obnoxious? Check.
23. Pretentious? Clear on that one.
24. Intrusive? I think I’ve made that clear.
25. Because I just don’t want to: There, I said it.
--------------------------
Woah~ I'm guilty!. wakakakakakaka
No comments:
Post a Comment