I can honestly take or leave social networking sites. I usually find myself logging in and staying logged in most of the day, just for something to look at when I'm bored. I like to see how some of my school colleagues are doing and try and sneak the odd live chat in with them if I'm free.
My girlfriend's cousin is an incredibly sad person when it comes to Facebook. For starters she's added about 500 "friends" to her list that she hardly even knows. Some of them are friends of a friend, some of them are even friends of friends of friends of a friend. She is also one of these dickheads that feels the need to inform everyone of her status every five seconds. "I've just got up!" she'll put one minute, "I'm just about to have some cheese on toast!" she'll add five minutes later "Just about to wake my son-shine up!". I am waiting for the day that she puts "I've just struggled with a monsterous turd."
What bothers me though, and what takes this woman one rung lower on the 'Sad Bastard' ladder of social networking in my eyes is that over the months she has had a laptop she has painted this rosey picture of her life (of which most of it is utter bullshit) and worse of all she actually cares what people think of her pointless musings.
My girlfriend and I go round to her couin's house on a regular basis and the truth of the matter is that she is a bit of a scrote. She has two kids, one of whom is bordering on being a teen that is probably going to end up in jail at some point and the other that is one of the most annoying, mard-arse, manipulative toddlers that I have met in my life.
Her fiance is actually a fairly nice guy, but has no financial sense whatsoever and would rather spend the little money he gets from his job on a new x-box 360 game than buy food for his kids. They live on borrowed money constantly and buy their TV, furniture and gadgets at 160% of the normal price from these high interest stores. When I pop round to watch the football (soccer) she'll sit with a face on her playing on Facebook or internet bingo.
They argue, she'll scream and shout on a regular basis whilst my partner and I sit there wondering why we visited there again and I can't help but think that she lives in a self-created shit life.
Yet on Facebook you'd think that she lives in The Grange. What a great and sunny life this woman must live! She calls her toddler son "My son-shine" even though the kid is clearly a little shit and I have actually seen her post "I love my boyfriend <3 x x x x x x" on Facebook about two minutes after we've witnessed them both have a huge slanging match and the atmosphere is still in thei air. She posts opinions on things that she really doesn't give a shit about just for a reaction. She once asked me "How did Manchester United play just now?" and then seen my opinion dressed as hers on Facebook that very evening.
I got tired of this charade at one point and posted up something funny on her boyfriends Facebook page one day at work. I saw her log out of her facebook account, log into her boyfriends account (she must have nicked his password) and then my post was mysteriously deleted. She's done the same with stuff I've posted on her Facebook site in response to her comments. She'll tell me that her boyfriend wasn't happy about me posting something on her site only for me to find out later that he didn't even know about it.
It obviously means a hell of a lot to her to keep up this pretense that her life is absolutely rosey, when it is actually a pile of steaming, sticky shit. Then when someone like me pops up and jokes that she is a "cheesy f***er" she removes it as quickly as possible because it is actually a nugget of truth in her otherwise perfect virtual world. I suppose I should feel sorry for her as much as anything.
I remember logging into my Facebook with the intention of actually being active for the first time. So I log in and I shit you not everyone's status, at 3AM, is what they're eating. I left a message saying "Why the hell is everyone telling me what they're eating? I need to find better company," and I haven't done anything but been a ghost since then.
I dunno what it is about social networking sites that people truly think they can just put anything up and it'll illicit a response. I get the point in the context of reason. Like the C-Blogs are made to inform, entertain, and overall spark conversation. And Facebook is a great way to find old friends and conversly have old friend creepily find you. And there are some truly fun little games and shit on Facebook and it's also a woderful way to keep tabs on local bands and tour schedules. But telling me you're eating toast? Or that you bought replacement shoestrings? I facepalm hardcore.
ALLLL that said...you seem particularly angry. You should mellow out. Whatcha gonna do?
There's nothing that can be done about it- aside from express an opinon to her, which I have done. I am not 'angry' about it per se. It is just something that I thought I'd rant about today!
I am pretty sure that there's this sub culture of sad people (including housewives and people that don't work) that don't have anything else to do other than go on Facebook during the day and my girlfriend's cousin is part of this group. She'll put a comment up like "I've just washed my face" and the same 2 or 3 losers will post up responses like "me too" or "I wash my face too!!!"
I think this might be part of the reason why she doesn't want her 'wall' tainted by people like me taking the piss- because these people (who I've never met in my life despite knowing the girl for about 9 years) might see it and think anything other than amazement about 'Miss Wonderful Life.' In reality though, she should be more bothered about our opinion (me and my parner, her cousin) because we are the people closest to her.
well man. you know some people are just trash. Not only that but she is stupid trash with no life. She's someone i like to call hominus inferior, or lesser man. She's a low intelligence fool who has absolutely no concept of reality or events that surround her. she is in fact, so stupid that she can not differentiate the difference between real life and virtual life. She is such a pathetic excuse for an thinking organism, she has replaced a proper social life with the easier and more prolific virtual equivalent. This, while subconsiously unknown to the subject, is done because facebook is 'easier'. The inherent problem is that she has pathologically ingratiated herself into this place as if it were a real community and led herself to believe that she is a queen of this virtual domain. Also when online, she deludes herself into thinking that her perfect little real because she can't 'deal' with the real world. these two aspects lead to the editing of her page and her boyfriend's in the constant search for 'ideality' in her life. though it is a thin virtual sham.
Go on and question her about two things. The deletion of your comment and the overuse of facebook. the first one she'll either lie about or blame you for it. The second question, she'll actually behave like it's real.
next you have to access her account, try doing so through her boyfriend. get in and delete the facebook account, but first go in and delete every picture and leave every group she's in. remove all friends and possibly insult them while your at it. watch as she suffers a mild psychotic break. Popcorn and milk duds are good in these situations.
It's evil, yes. But hopefully after the fallout has cleared, you might get a slightly less pathetic excuse for a human being. If not, then it'll be the best psychological fireworks display ever.
Ah, the disease of social networking sites. An outlet for the sad and pathetic to build a 'new' life and not only lie to the world, but also themselves, day after day.
It is saddening, but elevate yourself above it, which you already have done, and make sure no-one else you know ends up like her. Soon enough the walls she built will collapse around her and either she will realise the utter ridiculousness of what she did or simply go into deep depression.
I always disliked sites like facebook, but what made me hate them that you truly realise how stupid the human race really is. I know I'm being blunt here, but the degree of fakeness on that site is fucking disgusting. Former friends who I knew were depressed decided to construct their own little dream world where they were the happiest person. people who I knew who didn't give a crap about half the things they talked or posted about on facebook. Worst of all, best friends blatantly lying to each other about boyfriends, and how they felt.
I find that facebook and sites like that are used to weave lie upon lie, no matter who the person you are lying to. It brings out the horrible side of people and gives them an outlet to tell tens, if not dozens, lies per day, be it a friend, partner of even a family member.
I don't think it's healthy for humanity, and therefore I am not a part of any social networking site. I don't see the need for it when my mobile and email are more than sufficient for what my work and life involves. Granted, I don't have a massive social life, but then again, I don't live for having a 'cool' social life, a social life is not going to help me become a success, nor will it benefit me when I'm dead and buried in the grave.
In short, like random said, people are stupid, and to see how truly awful our race has become, just look a face book, realm of the pathetic.
@Bugsport
Yes, it's evil. But shock therapy is needed from time to time. It's the equivalent of taking her by the shoulders, shaking her and screaming in her face everything you just mentionned.
I also think she's pathetic beyond repair. It must so awkward for you to be there with your buddy, and yet they still scream at each other.
@Nic128- It's my girlfriend/fiance that I am actually there with- she's this girl's cousin.
They like a good argument make no mistake. She'll sit there with her laptop on her knee, practically ignoring us and then when something pops up in her home that she doesn't like she'll shout and scream. But when you read what she's been typing on Facebook there and then after it's like she's having the greatest f*cking time know to human living.
Don't get me wrong, we get on with them and we do have something in common with them- we are the same age and stuff-
Hehehe, I think that the result of playing a series of video games with some of the best writing I have ever seen in a game.
I do confess it's a little spooky to be talking like fictional characters, though after finishing the Phoenix wright games and the Apollo justice one I haven't touched them in months.
I think it's a good side effect, better using the English language to it's full potential then talking like people of facebook, who slaughter the language though their intelligible text speak. I can't for the life of me understand half of what people say to each other, I dunno, it's all moonspeak to me. :)
Personally I can't stand Facebook... I have an account I created for a contest and I check the account about once every 6 months (if I remember to). That being said, my sister in law has 3 boys - 2 are away at University and one has just graduated and is living in another city while job hunting. Their facebook pages seem to provide the family with an easy way to communicate and keep up with each other.
Regarding this woman.. frankly, if she wants to make her life look happier than it is, I don't really see the harm in that. Psychologically it probably makes her feel happier - and who can deny someone that?
I guess all I can say is that this is nothing new. Facebook and MySpace made it a hell of a lot easier than going to community functions and playing the charade. I think it's more the problem with the people using the application rather than the application itself. I personally find Facebook very useful. I mean you can leave messages for people when you can't catch them on MSN or in person, make groups for your different sports teams or projects and sometimes it is easier to contact other people than by email. I know most of the time I'm just using the PM function and not posting to walls. I don't need people to know everything I say to everyone.
Nothing causes me to facepalm harder than when I get updates like:
"Getting wasted this weekend!!"
"Getting wasted tonite <3!!
"So wasted right now!"
"Ugh! Hung over :("
"Great night last night! Let's do it again next weekend!"
@ Elsa: With regards your last paragrah there I think that it can't be a good thing papering over cracks. Knowing this woman you'll see that she isn't a 'happy' person anyway despite her constant bullshit updates on facebook.
@ CelicaCrazed: I agree that Facebook in theory is a great social networking application, but that is not the issue that I am tackling in my blog post. I'm talking about people that feel the need to post constant streams of crap on it.
This woman's behavior is hardly unusual for Facebook. I wrote an article for a college newspaper about how the majority of people use this and other social networking sites for "reaction formation," which describes precisely the phenomenon you detailed, Gawii.
I'm glad to see there are rational people on here who see Facebook for what it is. I find that older people on it don't use it as much for that, but the younger people are just shitting themselves to impress each other. It's horrifying.
Gawii... I can't help but recall the first genuinely "stupid" person I met. I had graduated University but had gone back to college to acquire some secretarial skills in order to get a job. I was given the task of mentoring and tutoring another student who couldn't seem to grasp much of the basic learning and was there through an unemployment program. I got to know her quite well and learned a valuable life lesson. This woman lived on welfare, she went out to bars, spent her welfare money on cigarettes and booze... fed her kid hot dogs every single night. She would whine about how much she missed her kid when she was in school, but would promptly go home, feed him and dump him with her neighbor so she could hit the bars. She had an on/off boyfriend who beat the crap out of her, but she still "loved" him and though stars shone out of his ass.
The worse thing was... she was too stupid to know that life could be different... better. She was genuinely happy with her life. She honestly was too stupid to pass the basic course and she didn't want a job. She liked living on welfare. She was happy living that way.
... in some ways I envied that she could be happy with so little... that she honestly didn't see that things could be better. I guess your story just brought this woman from my past to mind...
I remember when I was growing up it was conisdered "sad" and "pathetic" to spend a couple of hours sitting on the PC playing a game or chatting on IRC (which was most of my childhood since I grew up in the ghetto)... Now it looks like the shoe is on the other foot.
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Hahaha! Oh Facebook.
I remember logging into my Facebook with the intention of actually being active for the first time. So I log in and I shit you not everyone's status, at 3AM, is what they're eating. I left a message saying "Why the hell is everyone telling me what they're eating? I need to find better company," and I haven't done anything but been a ghost since then.
I dunno what it is about social networking sites that people truly think they can just put anything up and it'll illicit a response. I get the point in the context of reason. Like the C-Blogs are made to inform, entertain, and overall spark conversation. And Facebook is a great way to find old friends and conversly have old friend creepily find you. And there are some truly fun little games and shit on Facebook and it's also a woderful way to keep tabs on local bands and tour schedules. But telling me you're eating toast? Or that you bought replacement shoestrings? I facepalm hardcore.
ALLLL that said...you seem particularly angry. You should mellow out. Whatcha gonna do?
I tend to avoid people who's active on facebook. I see it as a sign of insanity or low self-esteem.
Facebook needs a slogan... how about: "As if there wasn't enough teenagers cutting themselves!".
@ Xzyliac
There's nothing that can be done about it- aside from express an opinon to her, which I have done. I am not 'angry' about it per se. It is just something that I thought I'd rant about today!
I am pretty sure that there's this sub culture of sad people (including housewives and people that don't work) that don't have anything else to do other than go on Facebook during the day and my girlfriend's cousin is part of this group. She'll put a comment up like "I've just washed my face" and the same 2 or 3 losers will post up responses like "me too" or "I wash my face too!!!"
I think this might be part of the reason why she doesn't want her 'wall' tainted by people like me taking the piss- because these people (who I've never met in my life despite knowing the girl for about 9 years) might see it and think anything other than amazement about 'Miss Wonderful Life.' In reality though, she should be more bothered about our opinion (me and my parner, her cousin) because we are the people closest to her.
People are stupid.
well man. you know some people are just trash. Not only that but she is stupid trash with no life. She's someone i like to call hominus inferior, or lesser man. She's a low intelligence fool who has absolutely no concept of reality or events that surround her. she is in fact, so stupid that she can not differentiate the difference between real life and virtual life. She is such a pathetic excuse for an thinking organism, she has replaced a proper social life with the easier and more prolific virtual equivalent. This, while subconsiously unknown to the subject, is done because facebook is 'easier'. The inherent problem is that she has pathologically ingratiated herself into this place as if it were a real community and led herself to believe that she is a queen of this virtual domain. Also when online, she deludes herself into thinking that her perfect little real because she can't 'deal' with the real world. these two aspects lead to the editing of her page and her boyfriend's in the constant search for 'ideality' in her life. though it is a thin virtual sham.
Go on and question her about two things. The deletion of your comment and the overuse of facebook. the first one she'll either lie about or blame you for it. The second question, she'll actually behave like it's real.
next you have to access her account, try doing so through her boyfriend. get in and delete the facebook account, but first go in and delete every picture and leave every group she's in. remove all friends and possibly insult them while your at it. watch as she suffers a mild psychotic break. Popcorn and milk duds are good in these situations.
It's evil, yes. But hopefully after the fallout has cleared, you might get a slightly less pathetic excuse for a human being. If not, then it'll be the best psychological fireworks display ever.
It could be worse.
Ah, the disease of social networking sites. An outlet for the sad and pathetic to build a 'new' life and not only lie to the world, but also themselves, day after day.
It is saddening, but elevate yourself above it, which you already have done, and make sure no-one else you know ends up like her. Soon enough the walls she built will collapse around her and either she will realise the utter ridiculousness of what she did or simply go into deep depression.
I always disliked sites like facebook, but what made me hate them that you truly realise how stupid the human race really is. I know I'm being blunt here, but the degree of fakeness on that site is fucking disgusting. Former friends who I knew were depressed decided to construct their own little dream world where they were the happiest person. people who I knew who didn't give a crap about half the things they talked or posted about on facebook. Worst of all, best friends blatantly lying to each other about boyfriends, and how they felt.
I find that facebook and sites like that are used to weave lie upon lie, no matter who the person you are lying to. It brings out the horrible side of people and gives them an outlet to tell tens, if not dozens, lies per day, be it a friend, partner of even a family member.
I don't think it's healthy for humanity, and therefore I am not a part of any social networking site. I don't see the need for it when my mobile and email are more than sufficient for what my work and life involves. Granted, I don't have a massive social life, but then again, I don't live for having a 'cool' social life, a social life is not going to help me become a success, nor will it benefit me when I'm dead and buried in the grave.
In short, like random said, people are stupid, and to see how truly awful our race has become, just look a face book, realm of the pathetic.
@Bugsport
Yes, it's evil. But shock therapy is needed from time to time. It's the equivalent of taking her by the shoulders, shaking her and screaming in her face everything you just mentionned.
I also think she's pathetic beyond repair. It must so awkward for you to be there with your buddy, and yet they still scream at each other.
@Mushman
I totally saw your post through the mouth of Miles Edgeworth there. It scared me a little.
@Nic128- It's my girlfriend/fiance that I am actually there with- she's this girl's cousin.
They like a good argument make no mistake. She'll sit there with her laptop on her knee, practically ignoring us and then when something pops up in her home that she doesn't like she'll shout and scream. But when you read what she's been typing on Facebook there and then after it's like she's having the greatest f*cking time know to human living.
Don't get me wrong, we get on with them and we do have something in common with them- we are the same age and stuff-
@Jon B
Hehehe, I think that the result of playing a series of video games with some of the best writing I have ever seen in a game.
I do confess it's a little spooky to be talking like fictional characters, though after finishing the Phoenix wright games and the Apollo justice one I haven't touched them in months.
I think it's a good side effect, better using the English language to it's full potential then talking like people of facebook, who slaughter the language though their intelligible text speak. I can't for the life of me understand half of what people say to each other, I dunno, it's all moonspeak to me. :)
Set fire to all their property. Maybe then they will evaluate their priorities and stop being such cunts.
Personally I can't stand Facebook... I have an account I created for a contest and I check the account about once every 6 months (if I remember to). That being said, my sister in law has 3 boys - 2 are away at University and one has just graduated and is living in another city while job hunting. Their facebook pages seem to provide the family with an easy way to communicate and keep up with each other.
Regarding this woman.. frankly, if she wants to make her life look happier than it is, I don't really see the harm in that. Psychologically it probably makes her feel happier - and who can deny someone that?
I guess all I can say is that this is nothing new. Facebook and MySpace made it a hell of a lot easier than going to community functions and playing the charade. I think it's more the problem with the people using the application rather than the application itself. I personally find Facebook very useful. I mean you can leave messages for people when you can't catch them on MSN or in person, make groups for your different sports teams or projects and sometimes it is easier to contact other people than by email. I know most of the time I'm just using the PM function and not posting to walls. I don't need people to know everything I say to everyone.
Nothing causes me to facepalm harder than when I get updates like:
"Getting wasted this weekend!!"
"Getting wasted tonite <3!!
"So wasted right now!"
"Ugh! Hung over :("
"Great night last night! Let's do it again next weekend!"
@ Elsa: With regards your last paragrah there I think that it can't be a good thing papering over cracks. Knowing this woman you'll see that she isn't a 'happy' person anyway despite her constant bullshit updates on facebook.
@ CelicaCrazed: I agree that Facebook in theory is a great social networking application, but that is not the issue that I am tackling in my blog post. I'm talking about people that feel the need to post constant streams of crap on it.
This woman's behavior is hardly unusual for Facebook. I wrote an article for a college newspaper about how the majority of people use this and other social networking sites for "reaction formation," which describes precisely the phenomenon you detailed, Gawii.
I'm glad to see there are rational people on here who see Facebook for what it is. I find that older people on it don't use it as much for that, but the younger people are just shitting themselves to impress each other. It's horrifying.
Gawii... I can't help but recall the first genuinely "stupid" person I met. I had graduated University but had gone back to college to acquire some secretarial skills in order to get a job. I was given the task of mentoring and tutoring another student who couldn't seem to grasp much of the basic learning and was there through an unemployment program. I got to know her quite well and learned a valuable life lesson. This woman lived on welfare, she went out to bars, spent her welfare money on cigarettes and booze... fed her kid hot dogs every single night. She would whine about how much she missed her kid when she was in school, but would promptly go home, feed him and dump him with her neighbor so she could hit the bars. She had an on/off boyfriend who beat the crap out of her, but she still "loved" him and though stars shone out of his ass.
The worse thing was... she was too stupid to know that life could be different... better. She was genuinely happy with her life. She honestly was too stupid to pass the basic course and she didn't want a job. She liked living on welfare. She was happy living that way.
... in some ways I envied that she could be happy with so little... that she honestly didn't see that things could be better. I guess your story just brought this woman from my past to mind...
I remember when I was growing up it was conisdered "sad" and "pathetic" to spend a couple of hours sitting on the PC playing a game or chatting on IRC (which was most of my childhood since I grew up in the ghetto)... Now it looks like the shoe is on the other foot.