Pet peeves about Facebook

[germdoc]

I'm sure most of you of a certain age have gotten on Facebook to reconnect with old friends and classmates. I have noticed certain tendencies among my old compatriots which are starting to bug the heck out of me:

1. Religious rants--an elementary school classmate has now become a religious zealot and apparent expert on Calvinist theological writings, links to which he will post almost daily. I don't mind a little religion (or politics), but ramming it down our throats is too much. His posts are now hidden.

2. Health care problems--a very casual acquaintance from my boyhood proceeds to describe in great detail the problems he is now having with his Crohn's disease--number of stools per day, pictures of ulcers on his lips, etc. Yuck! He is now hidden.

3. Mental health anguish--a few of my old classmates must be going through mid-life crises (similar to SC governor Sanford?), because they post cryptic messages like "I hope I can just make it through alright" and "Someone I know is going through a lot of pain now" without explanation. You post questions asking what is going on, but they never reply. It's sort of like the death watch for FB friends--you watch their posts until they start saying "Feeling better now" or "The sun is shining brightly today". And then you wonder if they're just being a drama queen and making stuff up.

4. Sexy stuff--an old first-grade classmate who is now 48, has announced to everyone on FB that he and his new wife will be expecting, that is after they conceive. So periodically he will let us know how the baby-making is "coming along". And another friend chimed in with his Viagra advice. TMI! Hearing middle-aged baby boomers talk about sex is about the most painful thing I can think of. Of course, we can't hide these posts, can we, because we want to see if and when they're successful!

[Richard in Smithville]

Sounds more like your peeves are with old school chums rather than facebook. Facebook just gives them an outlook to vent. I do think that FB has too many games though. i block all of those.

[crokett]

1. Turn off email notifications of new posts.
2. Don't look at facebook that often.

That's how I solved the problem. I joined because family posts updates, pics of my nieces and nephews, etc but I am really not interested in what you had for dinner or that you got a new pet in Petville or whatever.

[capncarl]

facebook fun

For my friends that want to discuss their medical problems, aches and pains and other personal problems I scour the internet for all kind of cures and send them links with responses like, " this should help or it always cures me". I usually include a link for laxitive or some colon wash. The subject is usually dropped, or I am removed from their lists.

have fun with it.

[cgallery]

All good reasons why I refuse to join any social networking sites.

[natausch]

Umm CGallery, isn't this site technically a social networking site?

I don't join FB mostly because the people who I have written out of my life were for a reason.

[leehljp]

I have two basic comments myself.

1. LOML is on there but I personally don't have the time or interest. I get irritated with all of the requests from people wanting me to join them. I email them (and FB) telling them I don't have an account or have the time to do that! I wish they would stop pestering me through email about signing up.

(note - These requests are from other people in my profession that like to keep up with happenings. This is from missionaries, pastors and ministry related friends. Ministry related folks tend to gather around FB type of interaction more than many professions as a whole. It is not a popularity thing IMO, but more of a sub-cultural thing.)

2. TMI: I agree with you. I sure would like to get into contact with some old friends but as you said most of it is TMI, IMHO - as I see/hear from LOML and her FB connection. However, this seems to be a changing cultural thing big time. The younger generation overall (IMO) has been totally open with TMI and lately it seems to have jumped the generation species gap.

The TMI on FB is also a way for people who like to talk to find a platform. Some people feel that EVERY single bit of information is NECESSARY for you to understand them. Sometimes that TMI is nothing more than them thinking out loud to themselves. Either way, it still is TMI and aggravating.

[cgallery]

Umm CGallery, isn't this site technically a social networking site?

I don't know, not really. The woodworking forums (besides SMC) offer a level of anonymity that the social networking sites don't.

I don't join FB mostly because the people who I have written out of my life were for a reason.

That is another excellent reason.

[Pappy]

I have a myspace account, unless they close them for inactivity. If that is the case, I HAD an account. What started as a good concept of a way to kep in touch with friends and family turned into a dating/sex hunt medium. In a couple of years, Facebook will probably be the same.

BIL sent me an invitation and I went to check it out. That I could find, there was no way to look around and see how the site was set up without signing up. No thanks....

[jhart]

Don't have one and don't want one or to join any. My life is still OK without them. With cell phones and emails, it's all I can do to keep up with them!!!

[Kristofor]

Facebook wasn't bad when they still required you to be a college kid/alum (well, at least to have the *.edu email address) to be a member.

Then they opened it up to the whole world including corporations, co-workers, parents, annoying relatives, etc. and it went down hill... Well, not downhill from a business perspective, but downhill from a product quality/user friendly environment approach. Now I log in perhaps once a month to browse for new piccies in some family picture albums for the folks who couldn't figure out Picasa, Photobucket, etc.

[TB Roye]

I have and account but don't participate and don't even go there. Forgot why I opened one in the first place. I am to private of a person to open up online, except here.

Tom

[MilDoc]

Amazing what people will "say" when they are not face-to-face. I opened a FB account only to see pics of a friend's kids. Haven't been back since.

And then of course there is Twitter. Really don't get that one at all, and have not signed up, just read what folks post. Really. You might be my best friend but I do not care that uyou are in line at the Post Office!