I hate them too, but I suppose I wouldn’t mind one that was calling attention to an issue that a lot of people might not be aware of. The cancer ones boggle my mind, though. Pretty sure most people are aware of both its existence and its suckitude, so what in the world could the point be? If I don’t repost it, will all my friends think I’m pro-cancer?
I did see one today that I didn’t mind, and would consider reposting. Something along the lines of, “To all you kids returning to school in a few weeks, I hereby challenge you during the first week of school to take one moment to give a smile or a kind word to a kid being picked on or ignored. At worst you have nothing to lose, at best you might make a new friend.”
I’m not sure about the mathematics of it, but is posting a status more likely to show up in a news feed than ‘liking’ something? Because not only is that a less obtrusive way to show support, it could be construed with equal likelihood that either a) you support the “cause” in question or b) you’re patronizing them for participating in such a vapid commenting culture. It’s like those chain e-mails I was getting as an 8-year-old (“SNED THIS TO 8 PPL AND UR CRUSH WILL TELL U THERE SECRET! BUT IF DON’T U WILL HAVE BAD LUCK FOR 5 YRS! IT’S SCARY HOW ACCURATE THIS IS!”) but with all the poignancy and solemnity of capitalization and punctuation.
My mom always reposts them if she agrees with them, but strips out the part asking you to quote her.
Oh, and punch line loser, you undermined your own point: if people know that the “like” button may not mean anything, then it’s not going to be an effective way to show your report.
As for your question: Heck yeah. Plus a status will propagate to everyone on your friends list, while liking something will only go to the friends of that person–and they’ve likely already seen the message.
Furthermore, I’ve noticed that things in multiple statuses tend to wind up on the news more often.
Every time I start seeing all those “bra color” or “where I leave my bag” memes I always wanted to post “Cryptic facebook status updates do nothing to raise awareness of breast cancer, which is fine because EVERYONE IS AWARE, I promise. If you truly want to do something useful today then send money, preferably to a cause that isn’t quite as spectacularly well-funded as breast cancer research.”
it was worst in the immediate aftermath of the casey anthony verdict. all of a sudden everyone is carrying on caylee’s memory by posting statuses and leaving on porch lights overnight and standing up for abused children, all through facebook posts! give me a fucking break. donate some money or time to a children’s charity, a women’s shelter, etc etc, then you can tell me about how you stand up for abused children. til then, shut it.
And can we talk for a second about all the “Life is good” posts? “Sitting on the beach. Drinking a margarita. Life is good.” Ugh, shut up. There’s something about that particular phrase that really bugs me. And no, it’s not some strange form of jealousy; my life is good too, thankyouverymuch. But I don’t feel the need to shove that fact down people’s throats on Facebook. Like the OP, I can’t really explain my hatred toward it, but hopefully I’m not alone…
I just ran a little experiment. At LEAST a dozen of my friends have been passing around a viral status update re: befriending kids at risk for bullying.
I posted this yesterday:
Today: 13 “Likes”. Not one, that I’ve seen (and I checked the profile pages of those 13 likes), person writing their own status update on the issue.
I adore my friends, I really do. But I’m rather disappointed in them today.
I vastly prefer those to the “my life sucks” posts, or the “let me tell you every mundane detail of my day” posts.
I can see why they’d be annoying, but I’d much rather read “Margaritas, life is good.” than “So my husband’s an ass and my kids are ingrates and my dog died and my washing machine is broken AGAIN!!!” or “Off to soccer practice, for the third time this week! Go Lions!!! :)”
Does it count if I liked it but never posted a cut-and-paste meme in the first place?
(I liked it for the “fuck off, cut-n-paste” message. Plus it kind of feels weird to be posting “advice” about kids when I don’t have one - it makes me look like “that kind” of non-parent who knows everything.)
I’ve been hollering for years against those idiot emails “send this to 10 friends.” Nobody’s listening. People who forward with no editing are merely providing spammers with zillions of valid email addresses when they play that idiot game. No, you won’t get free anything from Disneyworld or Microsoft, the Taco Bell dog won’t run across your screen, and God certainly won’t grant your prayer if you send it off in the next fifteen seconds. God doesn’t work that way.
The reposting on Facebook makes me puke. And the bajillion game requests are no better. I actually broke down in a fit of insanity and started playing one of the FB games. It takes genuine effort to NOT bug everyone you know to give you more energy, to work on your buildings, or to become your neighbor. Plus if you want to snazzifyyour game playing field, you can’t earn enough marbles on your own, FB wants you to BUY some with REAL money. Oh, Golly, let me whip out my credit card to get a bargain price on a multi-pack of Gold Bars! Not!
I hate Facebook anyway. I was dragged there, kicking and screaming, to communicate with a few friends. I don’t want to know what color underwerar you have on, whether you ate three cookies or ten, or what lyrics you’re listening to. WHO CARES? I feel like Stan on South Park.
Somebody create a “I Hate Facebook” group. I’ll join!
~VOW
Another reason to hate them, you get seventeen of them in your status feed.
I’ve really trimmed whose status I see in Facebook and Google+ - just the folks that post interesting things once in a while. Only a few left that need to tell me EVERY DAY how many miles their jog was, what they are currently drinking, or what cute thing their kid said.
