UPDATED
What kind of Facebook bore are you? What kind of Facebook bores really get your goat? There are at least 12 types to choose from. In my opinion and empirical experience, multiple answers are not only possible, they are likely (link to cnn article by clicking on the title):
1. Let me tell you every detail of my day bore
2. Self Promoter
3. Friend Padder
4. Town Crier
5. TMIer
6. Bad Grammarian (or Speller)
7. Sympathy Baiter
8. Lurker
9. Crank
10. Paparazzo
11. Maddening Obscurist
12. Chronic Inviter
My personal pet peeve is number 10, which describes people who post photos of me that I haven't authorized or even seen. How about a brief email or phone call of the "do you mind if I post this photo of you" type? I have learned to stop grinding my teeth over the examples of bad grammar and spelling, on Facebook and elsewhere. I was afraid of wearing my teeth down into stubs and then being forced to eat through a straw. TMIers bug me too, and I see them as a version of the let me tell you every detail of my day bores. Does the world really need to know that you are looking forward to your workout? Or that you just had a tall soy latte? One exception for me is my cousin Susie. She is a recent Facebook user and posts these wonderful photos of where she is, always with her feet visible in the photo. I love that. And no comments, just the photos with her feet in them. Showing rather than telling. She gets it.
But truly, the most annoying Facebook bores are the ones who spend all day taking STUPID quizzes, playing STUPID games, and sending STUPID presents that just clutter up my Facebook page. I have been told that this problem can be fixed by changing some settings (asking for less information about so-and-so), but I haven't been able to figure out how to do this yet. Sometimes I find myself avoiding my own Facebook home page because I can't stand the clutter left by these STUPID quizzes, presents and games. Stop asking me to engage in food fights! Stop sending me magic Easter eggs! I generally ignore Facebook requests of any kind.
It's a bit like telephone solicitation. A couple of years ago, I signed up via a website to put an end to it. And this has mostly worked. The only problem is that the person who had our phone number before we did seems to have skipped town, leaving a number of creditors in the lurch. And now, three years later, we routinely field calls for Jim and Susan Lxxxxxxxx. (Why am I being so nice to them and not revealing their name? After all, they thought nothing of leaving behind a mountain of debt that I am now routinely pestered about.)
Wouldn't it be nice if, on Facebook, you could sign up for a service that would block these mindless requests for/information about quizzes, presents and games? It would be even better if any old ninny was not encouraged - yes, encouraged! - to make your own quizzes and inflict them on the world. No wonder there are so many quizzes in broken English! The Japanese are making half of them. The application of choice is called “Make Your Own Quizz” (the key word is spelled wrong, of course). This is from the Facebook app page. Read it and weep:
“Making a Quiz has never been easier! Making a Facebook app has never been so fast! Make your own quizzes and turn them into your own real Facebook applications!”
I hope the global recession ends very soon and people go back to at least looking busy at work.
I am so lazy. I finally checked out the little tab that says "hide" on the side of each news feed post and discovered I can rid myself forever of feeds about food fights, Easter eggs and jewels. Quizzies? Gone! Testes? Too!
