How My Family Ruined Facebook
Not that my family, you know, broke Facebook for anyone else. Although if it were possible for a single family to break the second largest social networking site on the Internet, it'd be mine.
No, my family ruined Facebook for ME.
Now I don't really participate in a lot of the applications and games and such that FB offers. I mostly use it to update my status, post pics and keep in touch with friends I don't see much of elsewhere. And by "see" I mean, Internet friends who I met elsewhere but who, for whatever reason, no longer frequent the community where we first met.
In the past, FB, my blog and a couple of web communities have been my on-line escape from life aka "the real world." Meaning, people I see all the time anyway. I like having friends around the world who are SEPARATE from the people I sit next to at work and have dinner with at holidays.
Stupid me, I used my REAL last name on FB instead of my pseudonym of "Hunter." A decision I will regret from here until the afterlife. Because using my real last name opened me up to being found by EVERYONE who I see day to day in person. *sigh* It started with a handful of co-workers. Which was fine, I suppose, because they were co-workers (mostly) who I enjoyed and liked and were friends with anyway. And then people I knew in high school found me. Which, again, was fine because I'd lost touch with them and the ones who I don't really like and never have, they're those silent FB friends who never comment on your status/photos, etc and you hardly know they're there except for their newsfeed that shows up on your homepage and the random application invitations they incessantly send you. And, besides, I think it's hilarious that this is how I discovered that on old two-faced friend who "dumped me" way back in junior high is now pretty much an alcoholic. Or at least she appears to be, if she drinks as much wine as she says she does. (Not hilarious that she's an alcoholic, per se, but more in the fact that she's not as perfect and wonderful as she had always pretended to be.)
But then, the family invasion started. First with my uncle's wife and then another uncle's wife. Then an aunt. Then my mother(!!!), an uncle, three cousins, another aunt and then, the big one...my GRANDMOTHER. (Mama's step-mom) Can I just say, "Ugh!!"?
*sigh*
Which, one aunt at least, I love having on there because she's funny and we're more like sisters than aunt and niece. (Even if she DOES constantly malign my affection for bagels. Crazy woman.) The other aunts and uncle...meh. I don't care one way or the other because they, like the high school "friends" mentioned above, are mostly silent. The awkwardest thing about being FB friends with them is that they occasionally mention something in person that I've left on my status update.
Which, I say a LOT of silly, stupid stuff on my FB status update because that's what status updates are FOR. To be silly and stupid. Fluffy. Or occasionally to say, "I hate the world at large," just because sometimes the world pisses me off and since I can't exactly go stand on the roof and shout it for all to hear, I post it as my status update on FB. *shrugs*
Having my own silliness quoted back to me or being teased about in person? Not so great, actually.
But, how my family ruined FB for me is, MY GRANDMOTHER SCOLDS ME ON THERE FOR SOME OF MY SILLINESS.
Grrrr...
Whichever uncle signed her up and showed her how to use it needs a good beatin' and I'm just the niece to do it! If I wanted to get a scolding from Maw-Maw, I'd say "butt" where she can here me. I do not enjoy her taking my silliness seriously and then telling me I should be ashamed of myself for eating 36 cupcakes even though I didn't actually eat them but rather joked that I WOULD eat them on National Chocolate Cupcake Day (which is Oct. 18, if you're wondering...and who knew such a day existed? lol) and I wasn't even talking about full sized cupcakes but rather the little mini 100 calorie ones! And all this on Facebook! Where my friends can SEE!
It's like being at a party with all the cool kids and you're drinking the cool-aid with everyone else and your grandmother comes in and asks you isn't it time to apply your butt cream for that rash you have. Okay, well maybe not quite that embarrassing, but very nearly. LOL
So I guess I'll have to keep my silliness contained to Twitter where I actually DID think to remember to use my pseudonym instead of my real last name and STILL got found by a co-worker. lol
Oy. This on-line social networking is a headache.
Next up:
How Twitter Ruined My Warm and Fuzzies For Particular Authors and Friends
No, my family ruined Facebook for ME.
Now I don't really participate in a lot of the applications and games and such that FB offers. I mostly use it to update my status, post pics and keep in touch with friends I don't see much of elsewhere. And by "see" I mean, Internet friends who I met elsewhere but who, for whatever reason, no longer frequent the community where we first met.
In the past, FB, my blog and a couple of web communities have been my on-line escape from life aka "the real world." Meaning, people I see all the time anyway. I like having friends around the world who are SEPARATE from the people I sit next to at work and have dinner with at holidays.
Stupid me, I used my REAL last name on FB instead of my pseudonym of "Hunter." A decision I will regret from here until the afterlife. Because using my real last name opened me up to being found by EVERYONE who I see day to day in person. *sigh* It started with a handful of co-workers. Which was fine, I suppose, because they were co-workers (mostly) who I enjoyed and liked and were friends with anyway. And then people I knew in high school found me. Which, again, was fine because I'd lost touch with them and the ones who I don't really like and never have, they're those silent FB friends who never comment on your status/photos, etc and you hardly know they're there except for their newsfeed that shows up on your homepage and the random application invitations they incessantly send you. And, besides, I think it's hilarious that this is how I discovered that on old two-faced friend who "dumped me" way back in junior high is now pretty much an alcoholic. Or at least she appears to be, if she drinks as much wine as she says she does. (Not hilarious that she's an alcoholic, per se, but more in the fact that she's not as perfect and wonderful as she had always pretended to be.)
But then, the family invasion started. First with my uncle's wife and then another uncle's wife. Then an aunt. Then my mother(!!!), an uncle, three cousins, another aunt and then, the big one...my GRANDMOTHER. (Mama's step-mom) Can I just say, "Ugh!!"?
*sigh*
Which, one aunt at least, I love having on there because she's funny and we're more like sisters than aunt and niece. (Even if she DOES constantly malign my affection for bagels. Crazy woman.) The other aunts and uncle...meh. I don't care one way or the other because they, like the high school "friends" mentioned above, are mostly silent. The awkwardest thing about being FB friends with them is that they occasionally mention something in person that I've left on my status update.
Which, I say a LOT of silly, stupid stuff on my FB status update because that's what status updates are FOR. To be silly and stupid. Fluffy. Or occasionally to say, "I hate the world at large," just because sometimes the world pisses me off and since I can't exactly go stand on the roof and shout it for all to hear, I post it as my status update on FB. *shrugs*
Having my own silliness quoted back to me or being teased about in person? Not so great, actually.
But, how my family ruined FB for me is, MY GRANDMOTHER SCOLDS ME ON THERE FOR SOME OF MY SILLINESS.
Grrrr...
Whichever uncle signed her up and showed her how to use it needs a good beatin' and I'm just the niece to do it! If I wanted to get a scolding from Maw-Maw, I'd say "butt" where she can here me. I do not enjoy her taking my silliness seriously and then telling me I should be ashamed of myself for eating 36 cupcakes even though I didn't actually eat them but rather joked that I WOULD eat them on National Chocolate Cupcake Day (which is Oct. 18, if you're wondering...and who knew such a day existed? lol) and I wasn't even talking about full sized cupcakes but rather the little mini 100 calorie ones! And all this on Facebook! Where my friends can SEE!
It's like being at a party with all the cool kids and you're drinking the cool-aid with everyone else and your grandmother comes in and asks you isn't it time to apply your butt cream for that rash you have. Okay, well maybe not quite that embarrassing, but very nearly. LOL
So I guess I'll have to keep my silliness contained to Twitter where I actually DID think to remember to use my pseudonym instead of my real last name and STILL got found by a co-worker. lol
Oy. This on-line social networking is a headache.
Next up:
How Twitter Ruined My Warm and Fuzzies For Particular Authors and Friends
Comments
I know what you mean about "real" people finding you. I have a couple of family on mine, but they're never on or at least don't harass me, so I don't care.
However, I don't want a LOT of people to find me, so therefore, to the rest of the world Bridget I remain. lol
And I still love those who I get annoyed with. I just think a lot of times, folks share opinions (and thoughts) that are probably best left to themselves. Is why I try to keep things light on mine. *shrugs*