Tuesday, June 30, 2009

Facebook...and...Harvard

Okay, I've taken two Facebook quizzes this morning and find myself having difficulty in stopping. Oh dear. Please don't let me degenerate into one of those Facebook users who posts "When will you get married?", and "What kind of a relationship do you have?" on my page...thus far, I have only endeavored to find out which Twilight character I am (Bella, oh dear - stop me if I complain of an unhealable hole in my chest), which "bitch" I am (Sinead O'Connor. Probably the most flattering of the selection available, and the most accurate heritage-wise :p At least it wasn't Sylvia Plath), which Harry Potter character I am (I'm not even going to bother telling you that one. If you don't know, then you've gotten really bored and stumbled across a stranger's blog), what my dream job is (luckily, a teacher) and most recently, which stereotype I fit. Art Freak/Hipster was the concurrent response. Does that make me most like Jane from Daria? I always thought I was Daria. Is there a quiz to find this out? Argh! :p

Why am I doing these quizzes?! Extreme boredom, sadly, is not the answer. I have plenty of things to do today. I have merely opted instead to use my last day off this week to uncover deeply held truths about myself via Facebook. But looking through Facebook this week, I've noticed a few groups and things to become a fan of have popped up with intruiging specificity.

You can become a fan of Singing in the Car (for me, it'd be rapping to ridiculous Eminem songs in the car with my overly enthusiastic boyfriend, generally wearing his gangsta beanie at the time), Hot Showers, Massages, and "I Hate Stupid Stuck Up Bitches", a popular choice among many of my State High friends; our history as the "pretend private school" has led, for many of we alumni, to a predjudice against what Facebook so eloquently calls "stuck up bitches". However, I have refrained from joining that particular group, as I don't particularly want it on my page. However, I have participated in several anti-bad customer groups. My particular favourite is "I have worked in retail and thus have lost all faith in humanity". Perhaps a little overexaggerated, but you still get the general idea.

The cultural anthropologist would have a field day with the latest that has appeared online. What does it say about you if you take ten quizzes about your high school status ("How cool were you at school?", "Are you a Queen Bee?")? How about ten quizzes about various features of your body ("What is your sexiest feature?", "What does the opposite sex notice first about you?") ? Not to mention all the "When will you get married?" and "Is he your soulmate?" quizzes which you never see the boys do... Facebook garners more than 200 million users per day. How many of those users have not joined a group, become a fan of something, or taken a quiz? Facebook is the most successful procrastination tool in the world. ;)

I rank Wikipedia as a very close second, however. I've just learned from it that Facebook has its origins at Harvard University. Funny then, how the world's most prestigious university has played such a crucial role in the development of what is potentially the most damaging website to university performance...

2 comments:

  1. Haa what a great review about Facebook and to think Harvard is mixed in with that world?! Very interesting.
    This is a great post!

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  2. Quite ironic, isn't it, that Harvard played an integral role in Facebook's conception... Haha! Thanks :)

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