Facebook Ethics 101

I have a love and hate relationship with Facebook.



No. Not only because they constantly change layout, but because it's become a hub of annoying, pretentious, goody-two-shoes people. Huh! Like I don't know you guys!

So what the fuck am I still doing there?

That's the love and hate story I'm talking about. Sometimes I'd really want to deactivate my account. And then I'd shove that thought aside. Sometimes I'd tell myself "no facebook for the next 30 days". Deep inside I was asking "Am I sure?". Coz really after a week I'll end up peeking at my profile.

There are certain things I about facebook...

And I have one million reasons to counter it. Here are some of those :

1. Getting friend requests from people you don't know.
Don't you have something better to do? This is not a contest of having 1000 friends on your friend list so why bother?

2. Posting your photos- close up, lifesize, portrait - at every angle!!!!
Come on! I'm pretty much interested on your background view rather than memorizing your face. I even get constipated looking at Kim Kardashian's photos (OMG, they're everywhere), how much more.... yours???

3. Photos of sensitive type.
Yes, you CAN DO anything you want coz it's your account, right? You can upload as many photos as you'd like (i just wish your browser would hang up). But please... I'm begging, think of your 'friends' who will see these photos. Do you think it's appropriate to post photos of mutilated bodies in a social network? I.DON'T.THINK.SO. I'm browsing facebook because I want some nosy information about my friends. I'm not looking for something that would make my stomach turn. Next time, if you're really a fetish of gross photos - make your own website!

4. The tell-all-status.
What's on your mind? And clearly some people have abused that question. It is alright to share your random thoughts (at least your friends would know what's going up with you, dude!), if you feel like ranting, or if you wanna post something just to let people know you still know how to use facebook. But pleaseeee...(again) do we really have to know what time you woke up? What you had for breakfast? Your itinerary for the day? That the lady in the bus has hair full of lice??? Dude. You should have been a reporter. I mean, for you to be keen on details? You have the potential.

5. The "making-us-envy" status
Yeah, yeah, yeah. We all know how sweet your boyfriend is, and how lucky he is to have you because you are sexy, pretty, smart (talk about narcissism) and... wait, did you just say pretty and smart? Ah... okay.

6. Filling your status with quotes.
The reason why they call it 'What's on your mind' because you have to SAY what's on your mind. So you mean you're also thinking what Albert Einstein was thinking and all the other famous authors?

7. Proposing on Facebook.
Last night I saw one who proposed. He took a picture of the ring. Posted it on his wall. Tagged his girlfriend and 21 others while saying - "(name of the girl), will you marry me?"

Awwww.... was that sweet? Nope. To me it was disgusting. Why propose on facebook? Unless you want to invite us all on the big day!

8. Using your status to attack your enemies, officemates who can't get their job done, or your boyfriend's other girl.
My god, this has become rampant. People, if you have personal issues, deal with them upfront. Ranting on FB does make you look even more coward.

9. Liking your own status.
I've said this before and I'm saying this again : "Liking your own status in FB is like high-fiving yourself in public." PATHETIC! The reason why you wrote it is because you LIKE it in the first place. So why the hell click LIKE?

10. Facebook is FACEBOOK. Not YouTube, alright?
Please... I can already make a playlist out of your video posts.

Those were few of the reasons why I want to UNFRIEND facebook sometimes.

What about you? Any similar issues?

Goodbye Friendster

Long before there was twitter and facebook, there was friendster. Long before we're eager to read the comments in our shoutouts, there were testimonials. There were glittering texts. Skins to match your mood.

Can you still remember them?

I still can.

I always thought friendster is the be all and end all of social network. Then came facebook and it proved me wrong. I was one among the many guilty people who tried creating an account in facebook, hated it at first, logged again, played the games - until one day I just switched to facebook and never looked back.

It all seemed history until I read the news from yahoo that friendster will be doing a major website reformat and it may delete old photos and files. The news tugged a little nostalgia in me. I suddenly recalled how I used to spend hours giving face-lift to my page. From skin color to text fonts, to whose celebrity face will grace on my page, to what will I say on "about me".

There was no wall where you can vent yet. There was no friend suggestions. No notification whatsoever but I can manage to connect with my friends, peek at their profile , see the photos, find out who commented - very much like today. Except that facebook made it a lot easier. And convenient.

As you know, convenience always have the edge.

I took the time to revisit friendster after a long time. I must say, I miss the old friendster. It's pretty much like facebook now where you can see updates from your friends and you can post shoutouts. Then I made a round down testimonials. I read each one them barely noticing that those were written 4-5 years ago by my friends. Some I couldn't figure who because of their aliases. Some I lost contact with. Old friends. Old colleagues. Old times. I couldn't help but smile.

When I was done reading the testimonials, I realized they all said one thing about me : BITCHY hahahaha! Yeah I could be mean at times but I don't bitch other people just for the heck of it. I just have a strong personality. Agree or not but that's it! :)

I browsed at my old photos too. They are silent witnesses of how much I changed over the years. Errrr... make it : how much I gained (in lbs) over the years. Hahaha!

I don't know if this is some kind of publicity fair on friendster's part just to create a hype and bring their old "followers" back to their website. Whatever it is, I can't deny the fact that this social network became part of my teens. I have so many memories imprinted on each one of the photos, on every single word of my friends' testimonials. There's so much of me in there...

My Lenten Season To-do List

I think I'll start making this a tradition to make a to-do list for the whole Lenten week. Because what usually happens is that I just stay at home doing movie marathon like it's the most "meditating" thing to do.

To start off, I already did confession, at last after 6 long years. I could not forget the feeling when I did confession 6 years ago. I was really nervous. Huh! That goes to show how much of a sinner I am haha! Okay, I'm not making this a joke but it does get into my nerves when I'm spilling my sins to the priest. And last Friday was no exception. I had to muster enough courage to do it. But you know what? When I walked out of the room, I 've never felt so light and so happy. So happy that I did it.

But the downside was, that Friday night I went to have dinner with my colleagues. And who knows what happens after dinner? We had some Margaritas and sang our heart's out. Anyway that was clean fun. So I guess having multiple swigs of Margarita doesn't make you that much of a sinner, right? Right. I'm just human!

So when morning came my head was slightly throbbing and I knew why it was. Too bad for me.

Oh wait. I'm out of line. Isn't this post suppose to be my to-do list for the holy week?

So. Confession? Check.

Fasting? I haven't done this before. Maybe the only chance I could get closer to fast is because I'm too lazy to cook my own meal. But they say fasting isn't just about "not eating". It's about restraining yourself from doing the things you like doing. Like what? Like blogging? Facebooking? Texting? The whole nine yards? Uhhmm... can I negotiate? Blogging, maybe. But facebook? Ahhhhhhh!!!! Okay. Will try. After all it's sacrifice. What's 3 days without social network? waaaahhhhhh!!!!!!!

And because it's holy week - I must go to church. You know, exercise... Walk the faith. I won't just sit at home watching re-runs of my favorite TV show.

Most of all - PRAY. I missed a lot on that one. I'm not a prayerful person and it sure takes a lot of willpower to do it every night before going to bed and every waking day (which until now I'm a failure).

Lastly, I wanted to renew ties with a friend whom I haven't spoken to for 6 months. I don't hate her anymore. Or maybe I still do subconsciously... but I can't find it in my heart to talk to her. I don't know. Maybe I've reached saturation point whatever!

One thing I can give myself credit for is that I'm a good friend and I treat my friends well. But once I get hurt, I'm hurt and it won't be easy to mend it.

All in all I'm excited coz I'm going home and I get to rest for 4 days! Yeah baby yeah!

So if you won't read any post from me - that's because I'm serious about this!

To my EX-FRIEND

I did something MEAN.

I wasn't in speaking terms with one of my closest friends for more than a month now. We were completely ignoring each other and I wouldn't shrug even if she'll sit beside me or we'll brush shoulders on the stairs. I don't like to see her around. I can't stand the sight of her! I know I sound much of a hater but that's what I truly feel for her. This is not the first time we acted like total strangers, but this is the longest we ever did.

I can't say who among us is more hurt. I can't speak for her feelings in the same way that she can't understand how disappointed I am to her. I'm disappointed coz I thought she knew me well and she loved me despite all my flaws and imperfections. I thought she accepted me for all the silly things I've done. I know I'm not that good and I'm not perfect. I'm a "work-in progress". So don't expect me to act perfectly under an imperfect situation where my judgment could easily snap! I was going through an uphill battle that time, it was hard to choose right from wrong, and she, of all people knew that! She, of all people should have felt my emotional outburst. And she, of all people should be the first to understand me - NOT that I'm the one to seek understanding from her.

I  know I have hurt her for things I've said. Maybe if I'll go back in time I would still say those words coz that's what I'm feeling right at the moment. I wouldn't pretend. Yet, I sincerely apologized for making her feel bad. And I would understand if she can't accept my apology when we had a heart to heart talk. But what I don't get is why does she have to pretend she's OK and we're OK when deep within her she was still hurting and she hadn't completely forgiven me. I  would understand. Really.

And then after quite sometime she'll get back at me, accusing me of expelling her? What the heck?! I may not be the best person in the world but I'm the type who would cherish her friends and wouldn't trade them for someone who just came out to ruin my life. If she thinks I can let go of our  friendship that easily,  then it goes to show that she doesn't knew me that much and I'm quite disappointed.

I removed her in my facebook and blocked her. I know it's puerile of me but I'm just being true to myself - I don't want to do anything with her.

The 7 Things Part II

I wanted to make another post just before September tears its page off  the calendar. As I was contemplating on what to write, I remembered Rachel over at The Diary of a Dreamer tagged me for the LOVELY BLOG AWARD. Thanks Rachel! This is actually my second time. Unlike the first one when you just have to mumble your THANK YOUs, this one comes with 7 Facts about you. In this case, ME! I hope I'm not making my way to becoming a self-absorbed creature.

Am I? Oh no...

S**t!

Anyway, I did rounds on my previous posts just to see what are those things I haven't shared with you yet. I realized I'm almost there to expose my deepest, darkest secrets. Kidding! So here are some of the things which I think are pretty interesting facts about me, which you might want to know (I hope so).

**** The 7 Facts *****

#1. When I was in second grade, I got hit by a vehicle.

Call it stupidity or lack of common sense but I crossed the street when a vehicle was approaching. Sure my parents taught me to look at both sides first before crossing. And I don't know what caused my judgment to twitch, that I decided to cross when THERE'S a vehicle. Luckily, the driver noticed me at once but he's short on brakes so I landed at the hospital with bruises. 

#2. I listen to Taylor Swift.

Eyebrows down please... Alright. Not everybody loves Taylor and I don't adore her either. But I like some of her songs.

#3.  I'm afraid of snakes, worms and anything that crawls.

They're just ewwww!

#4. There are two things I'm addicted to right now : Facebook & Vampire Diaries.

Facebook is like part of my system, and if vampires are for real, I would like to become one! Ssshhh.....

#5. I wanted to become a lawyer when I was a child.

But I realized that reading law books are BORING. I'd rather debate with my friends over who's hotter - Damon or Stefan, than defending my guilty or not client.

#6. I've always been mistaken to have a foreign blood because of my surname.

Yeah. And they change their minds when they start to size me up. I think that's just R-U-D-E.

#7. I'm a weakling.

Wait. I'm too harsh on my self... I have a poor sense of balance. Okay, that sounds better. I almost had my right arm broken when I slipped at a friend's house. Another incident had my right arm (again) bruised when I slipped at the workplace. I have countless humiliating experiences in tripping and slipping (note that those two words rhyme).

That's it!

Ha! Serves You Right!

Heeeeyyyyy! I found an effective, awesome way to shut off someone from commenting on your facebook status. Oh just a quick reminder : this is going to be a small facebook talk so please bear with me. Actually this feature has been in placed for quite sometime but I thought of using it recently. When patience is put to test, might use technology to your advantage. That being said, I banned someone from commenting every time I write something on my wall.

Here's the whole story :

This person is a friend of mine. We're actually roomates. She treats me like an older sister and I do treat her like a younger sibling coz I don't have a choice. Hahahaha! No. Just kidding. Seriously, she's so dear to me.

It all started with this post :

Sorry but I feel the need to remove my pic and name. And yes I sounded overly dramatic, somewhat broken-hearted which utterly caused a stir leaving my friends intrigued. But really, it was just another random thought.

One who first commented was a college classmate who is a good friend of mine, which my roomate thought would be a "perfect match" for me. See? I just mentioned on my previous post how the people around me are so concerned about getting myself a perfect guy to get hitched with. My roomate would even resort to pimping me out just to make sure I'll walk down the aisle before she does. And she sees Mr. Classmate a good potential / candidate coz we had our friendship going on for quite sometime.

She started teasing us. Bluntly. Upfront. Not caring how many people would be able to read it. It would be alright if it's only the three of us in the thread (Me, Roomate, Mr. Classmate). But we're talking about more than 10 people on the loop! Don't ya think the joke is on me??!

Okay, never mind me. Never mind my feelings. I have a thick face, you know... I can survive being bullied though I'm not all too happy about it. I was more concerned about how Mr. Classmate would react/think about ME...... or the whole comic situation. Not everyone could take on a joke like that. And I can tell coz he never reacted afterwards.

I warned her about the incident. Thought I made myself pretty clear until yesterday when she left a comment on my new post. The comment was totally OUT-OF-PLACE. Come on! I like it when someone leaves a comment but I'd surely be disgusted if that comment is in NO WAY RELATED TO THE POST. And what's more humiliating was that her comment was a reply to Mr. Classmate's and she was saying that the reason of my being emotional these days is because I'm missing Mr. Classmate!

Whoah!

Did she ever realize she's making it awkward for us? I mean, if ever there's a probability of us having any sort of romantic relationship in the offing, can't she just leave it to the universe???!

So I went to the privacy settings, clicked the "customize settings" link, looked for "can comment on my post" and placed her name under exception. And......

Tada!!!!!!!!!

Thank you facebook for coming up with a brilliant idea! Whenever she tries to access my page the comment box is disabled bwahahahahhahahahahahahahahaha!

So much for unwanted comments!

When she found out she told me I'm over-reacting. Over-reacting alright! But it's my facebook account and I can do whatever I want!

What's Up With This Crazy Fad?

Who's on facebook? I guess everyone? So I think you're quite familiar on how others prefer to give you a hard time reading their wall post. I'm talking about writing them upside down or in Arabic characters which I don't understand any single word of it.

At first I was like "wow genius!".

The second time, "okay, what's up with this crazy idea?"

Third, "fuck! this is getting annoying."

Fourth and so on, "screw you people! you're giving me headache."

Aryt, I know they we're trying to be unique and cool and catchy and... I don't know. But since most of my co-workers are using this flip application - it's no longer COOL. Come on!

Seriously, why would you want to give your friends a hard time reading what's on your damn mind post? Do you think it's funny how I considered reverting the screen just to get a clearer view of what you were writing? Yeah I seriously thought of that. I'm the type of person who really reads everything on my wall because all the juicy information are there wahahaha! And you're spoiling my attempt because of these writing trend from hell!

And yes I can't do anything about that coz its your facebook account and I can't tell you what to do with it or how would I like you to write your posts.

And because I'm considerate...READ THIS :

¡¿ɟʇʍ :noʎ ɹoɟ s,ǝuo sıɥʇ zoɔ ʇno sıɥʇ ʞɔǝɥɔ 'sɹǝuʍop-ǝpısdn noʎ llɐ os ¡ɯǝɥʇ uıoɾ 'ɯǝɥʇ ʇɐǝq ʇ,uɐɔ noʎ ɟı ʇɐɥʇ ʎɐs ʎǝɥʇ

I hope I made myself clear!

So you really think I deserve it, huh?!

Honestly, I don't know how to start writing this one...

I was suppose to write about my weekend getaway until I discovered something. This is not a big deal actually, I mean to you as the reader. But to me it was kind of an unacceptable demeanor. Not only did it hurt me emotionally but the congenial feeling I used to have for that person has been tarnished. And I don't know what would it take to revive that pleasant friendship we once had.

I have a guy officemate who's very dear to me. Nope, he's not my boyfriend if you wanna ask. Nor he's a special someone if that's your next question. He's my buddy. My badminton playmate. We're not really the best of friends of sort but among all of my guy officemates, we're the closest.

This guy officemate tends to be playful in a sweet but sometimes irritating way. Human as I am, I would sometimes loose patience and better judgement of the situation at hand. So last week, I was dealing with a headache while having breakfast at the cafeteria when he approached me. Because I'm a bit temperamental especially when I'm beginning to feel annoyed by his silly pranks at me, I yelled at him. No, I'm not really sure if  I yelled but I know that I didn't sound pleasant that morning. Maybe I did raise my voice but I wasn't at all angry. You know when you're too comfortable with the person you tend to be not yourself sometimes?!? That best explains our situation.

Actually I was unaware that I have been grumpy with him for awhile. Well I'm sorry I get pissed off sometimes! He took offense at my crankiness and told a friend that he will never ever go near on me. Man, I feel like I'm having a contagious disease or something! Of course I wasn't adamant with my fault. I asked sorry and told him it will never happen again. I must have really hurt him because we were not in speaking terms after that.

Fine.

Today I found out he deleted me in his facebook friend list. Ouch!!! It felt really bad... It's like I was stabbed in the back. I know I did wrong but I already asked for forgiveness and sincerely said my sorry. Was it really an awful mistake on my part that makes me deserve his hatred? It  maybe a harmless act - deleting me in your friend list - but for me it's past the deed. And he whom I consider one of my best pals, DON'T YOU THINK YOU'RE TOO MEAN TO DO THAT  TO ME? We'll, if it makes you happy then try deleting all our conversations in your mobile phone and my comments on your facebook profile. Maybe then you can find your own peace and happiness.