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Today is Tuesday, January 06th, 2009

Dear Diary…(friendster)

August 14th, 2007 • Related • Filed Under

Dear Diary,

The other day I was really bored so I logged on to Friendster to check on random people’s profiles, which I haven’t done in a long time. It used to amuse me and help me pass time, but I stopped doing this for some time and I couldn’t remember why. Hey, sometimes I even manage to come across a friend or two. But that day, I remembered why. I don’t know how many wide-eyed, cutesy poses I came across, and how many ?°I’m bored?± surveys were posted 1294309?-oh, wait, 1294310 times on the Bulletin Board. ARGGHH! Immediately I was signing out as fast as I could even though that floppy-haired dude with the high cheekbones and megawatt smile was staring at me on the screen.

Last I checked, Friendster was a social network service , and was created for the purpose of staying connected with people, or, in simple terms, keeping in touch with existing friends and meeting new ones.

Picture courtesy of Smartmobs.com
But now it seems to be much more than that- a dating service, a modeling agency, a place for gossip?-
There are just too many annoying things people do on the website. And there are just too many things they don’t do!
Bulletin Boards were meant as an easy way to let your network of friends know updates about you without having to send a message to everyone, or make announcements that you want to share, like if you have changed your email address and want everyone to know. But now it seems like most people are doing anything but that. I hate it when they…

…Do surveys, questionnaires and tests which are not read by most people on their list. Come on, not everyone wants to know what your porn star name is. And if you really must, copy and paste it on some personal space, like your blog.
…Share irrelevant gossip, e.g. Title: John kissing Daniel! Pass this around! This not only shames the person because the people reading it wouldn’t know if it’s a joke or not, it also wastes peoples’ time if, out of concern, they take the time to read it.
…Post the same bulletin 10 times in a row. Hey, people can read, and if you think your post has not gotten through because of the connection or something else, wait for a while before you try, instead of clicking the “Post” button 12313423 times in a row.
…post unimportant bulletins with fake titles to get attention, e.g. “Title: I shaved my head bald!” but the post is a ghost story of how this girl will haunt you if you do not pass it on. Sigh. I’ll get to that later as well.
…use inappropriate language in bulletins. It is rude and a violation of netiquette . In case you have forgotten, everyone on your list can see the four-letters you’ve used, and f*** doesn’t help either, nobody’s going to think you are asking for a fork.

If they don’t know how to use bulletin boards without abusing them, they should try the message function then. The inbox and outbox system serves a the same purpose of the bulletin board, except that you do it in private and only target the person you want to contact. The message inbox works like an email, so it is also considered somewhat personal. That’s why I get annoyed when some people…

…send chain letters, horror stories or forwarded messages about a child who is about to die and only by fowarding the message can you save his or her life. I confess that when I was young and naive, and these things were not as common as they are today, I sometimes did that. But honestly, how many of such mail have you received in your entire life? To some extent you have got to start wondering if what the letter says will happen if you send it to everyone on your list. Is Friendster REALLY going to donate 10 cents for every message you forward?

Of course, it would be difficult to keep track of every person on your list, and that’s where the photo uploading function comes in. Your photos are there for everyone to see, so they will remember or recognize you, or be able to see how you look like if you are getting acquainted for the first time. Nowadays it is also common to upload photos to commemorate an event and share it with your circle of friends, such as a birthday gathering or your overseas hostel photos. That is why the new added function of photo captions was introduced, so people could title their photos to remember an event or tell other people about it. To a certain extent, these photos are about personalization. But no, just like the message inbox and the Bulleting Board, it must be ruined by people who…

…post disturbing photos, such as Public Displays of Affection (PDA), close-to nudity, rude gestures. I know you are very much in love with your boy, but do we really have to see you and him in bed with the covers over both of you? Also, last I remembered, there is a rule that states no rude or nudity photos allowed.
…have photo captions which are inappropriate. Again, no rude or degrading words please, and for the life of me, I do not understand why some girls (heck, some guys even) would want to title their photos “people say I am cute, but I don’t think so…what do you think?”. Leaves me speechless.
…grab photos (a function which allows you to display your friend’s photo in your own page) or upload less-than-eye-soothing photos without asking permission first. Some best friend you are, letting everyone see that photo of my spare tyres and double chin…with my eyes crossed because of the flash.

Like I said, now it’s all about personalization. Everyone wants to stand out and get attention, and there are so many ways to do that now. Don’t get me wrong, I’m all for being an individual, but must they really…

…write with alternating sized fonts, because not only is it vErY hArD tO rEaD, iT iS aLsO vErY aNnOyInG. Plus, sometimes it puzzles the life of me, because when you say you want to fAlL iN lOvE, I really cannot understand why you want to fail in romance.
…have such sparkling, glittery or fancy profile backgrounds? Again, I know it is all about customization, but if I can’t even read your profile, where does the person come in in personalization? You don’t have to keep a boring white background, but do keep it neat.

Oh yes, and these apply to other social network sites too, like MySpace and Hi 5 .
So, dear webdairy, this is my rant for today. I do hope the message gets out to users of such social network services, so we can all smile and be happy while keeping in touch with friends.

Love,
Me