Yiayia

I love sharing my love of Hummus on FaceBook.

Though, have you seen these commercials? I would definitely like Yiayia on FaceBook.

dead.

I'm sure FaceBook is being flooded with status updates about Osama Bin Laden's death. Which I cannot say is a bad thing, that guy was a jerk.

I feel like this is appropriate:

From others to me:

Did you see what Jordan put on my wall?

No.

Do you know if Audry deleted her FaceBook?

No.

I wanted to send you something, remembered you aren't using FaceBook, then had to load Twitter, log in, and do it there. Ugh.

Sorry.

A creeper of a friend FaceBook chatted said friend from 3 computers over at the library. Do you know how shotty FaceBook chat is? Talking is much easier. But God forbid you have real human interactions.

Earthquakes. Radiation. Epic tornado destruction. Maybe the world will end in 2012. At least we've had the Royal Wedding. The earth can implode now.

The best thing to come out of FaceBook

I'm sorry for the giant-ass picture. But it's better than having a dinky entry with only a link. If the image suddenly goes away (I'm probably hotlinking) go here!

Day.. uh.. I lost count

Two things.

FaceBook can get you kicked out of the Royal Wedding. [link]

and

Mark Zuckerberg, the legend himself, finally changed his FaceBook relationship status. I'm shocked! 9 years without being FaceBook official?! How?! [link]

I'm not really missing FaceBook still.

When do you think enough is enough in regards to social media? When do you stop feeding your opinion into sites like FaceBook or YouTube? Personally, I'd never make a statement where I become vulnerable to trolls. Once something is on the internet, it's on there forever. The screencap button is your enemy. It's different in real life because memories fade and times change. I'm semi-referencing a YouTuber named Onision. He is a highly controversial, very opinionated guy. He has 4 YouTube channels (one, two, three, four). The second is where he posts very intimate details about his life. His current girlfriend, his messy divorce, how in love he was with his exwife, religion, circumcision, etc. Everything you can think of. He has a Twitter, FaceBook fan page, and even an official website with forums. I think he's gone a bit too far posting all this really personal stuff on the internet. I think he's creative and I like his regular videos, but as a person, he is way too intense for me.

Sorry, that was a bit ranty and I didn't really stick to the subject matter of this blog.

Day 15

You all knew it was coming (and by you all I mean Lizzie and Carly, because you were at lunch with me today):

You don't have to be FaceBook friends in order to be real friends.

We were all sitting with Mohammed (a friend who works with us at the library) and Carly was saying something about pictures from last weekend and how they'll be on FaceBook. Then she got all grumpy-goose complaining about how they aren't FaceBook friends. Mohammed calmly replies, "Well, if you send me a request I'm not going to deny it..." He just doesn't seek them out, which is admirable.

It's like the week before starting college, and everyone who is also an incoming freshman decides to add you on FaceBook. Then, half way into the school year, you realize you've never actually seen some of the people you've added. Let the defriending spree begin!

FaceBook is so dumb.

Sunday Fail

Stop playing Bejewled on FaceBook, it's 5 o'clock on a Sunday, I know you have homework!


(But Aimee, stop blogging about your FaceBook frustrations. It's 5 o'clock on a Sunday, you know you have homework too!)

Shut up, Brain.

Day 13 & 14

I just thought this was hilarious. It's a 'real-you' vs. 'FaceBook-you' comparison. So true and another reason why FaceBook is dumb.

Yesterday my dad said something about my cousin getting a tattoo.

"What? Didn't you see it on FaceBook?"

"No! Show meee!"

So... I kinda used FaceBook to look at something, but it's not like I won't see her next weekend, and obviously look at it in person.

Day 11 & 12

Girl 1: Are you gonna take pictures?
Girl 2: Yeah.
Girl 1: Good, stalk ya later!

Who do we put pictures up for nowadays? Do we really want to show people, or are we just pining for comments?It really bugs me when people put pictures up of themselves, then in the caption they say, "I look so ugly!" ...So why did you put the picture up?!

Michael Buckley from the What the Buck Show tweeted this, and I laughed. He's so cute. This is what FaceBook should really be used for...

useless

fangirl

screams.

The past few days, otherwise, have been full of:

Friend 1: (talking to Jordan) I saw your status, it was hilarious!

Me: Oh? I didn't see it, what did it say?

Then no one explained anything to me. I think I got, "See? This is what you're missing!"

Jordan also said to me, "It's like when (random name) called me a hipster on my status!" I just gave him my lazy eye.

Also, these past few days got me thinking about privacy. Yesterday I was asked to be a bridesmaid. I've never been in a wedding before, let alone a bridesmaid! So, I was pretty excited. The FaceBook-Aimee probably would have posted a status on FaceBook about it, telling everyone! But, the Anti-FaceBook-Aimee didn't even tweet about it. It's a rather private matter, and I told the people I'm close with in other ways. Because I'm sure random friends from High School and distant family members are so interested in a strangers wedding. I deemed it semi-inappropriate, and celebrated in other ways... like emailing my boyfriend and texting Jordan.

Day 10 - you can't expect solid numbers from a FaceBook event

Today is my brothers birthday, I wonder how many wall posts he'll get?

Today we also learn about the timing of FaceBook events. This Friday is the Day of Silence/Night of Noise drag show on campus. The show depends on people dressing up in drag, lip syncing silly songs and dancing. The president of the GSA (aka Outreach) sends out FaceBook invites over a month ago. Since then though, I haven't heard anything about dates, times, where it is, etc. Not since yesterday did I see publicity posted through out the walls of public campus buildings, so unknowing to me I planned something with a few other friends that night. I'm confronted by the president today, I tell him, "I'm sorry, but I already made other plans because no one has really told me anything." He mentions the FaceBook invite from months ago, but no one actually notices the date in those things until the night of, or if you're lucky, a few days before. You can't expect solid numbers from a FaceBook event, especially one posted that far in advance. You wanna get real numbers, talk to people in person. (What a foreign concept!!)

The kicker? He posted on my wall about the music choice for the show. Clearly, I'm not checking my FaceBook! Miss Carly showed me, so again, I didn't cheat and log on myself. I'm starting to think I should have just deactivated it, because even though I'm not logging onto FaceBook, I still get the drama, just a bit more indirectly.

I'm considering giving everyone of my friends my email address, a link to my other blog, and deactivating all together once this term is over. You don't realize how personal you get on FaceBook until you move yourself away from it. And really, the friends I talk to most, I don't converse with on FaceBook. It's just a tool to stalk and be stalked.

Day 9

• 7) Today the Harry Potter exhibit opened at Oesterle Library. Seeing as I work there, I decided to join in the HP fun with Lizzie, Shalyn, and Becky (we're all Library groupies...) Upon entering we were given a coupon for Hollywood Palms. It's kinda like a restaurant/movie theatre in one. I actually saw Harry Potter 7 pt. 1 there... How fitting! Anyway, we all received 2 complimentary movie tickets. On the back of the coupon was the big FaceBook f. "Become A Fan of Hollywood Cinemas," it said, "for FREE movie stuff & updates." [Aimee rant: that isn't the correct usage of the '&' symbol. You're only supposed to use it when you're talking about a brand name. For example, Johnson & Johnson, M & M, etc. But using it to replace the word 'and' isn't typographically correct.] Since Hollywood Palms is a pretty awesome experience, I would totally like them on FaceBook. Anything for free movie stuff!

Remember how I said it made me feel wanted when people sought me out without the aid of FaceBook? It totally makes me feel unwanted when people only really use FaceBook to talk to me. Just yesterday, Jordan told me someone answered my text through a FaceBook wall post. Just text/email me back!

10:34 pm

10:34 pm and still so much stuff to do. You would think I'd get more done without FaceBook, and I do, I just find myself doing other things.

This will be quick, it's just a story my friend Carly told me today. (Let me know if any of the details are fudged, Carly.)

She had deactivated her FaceBook for a week (I believe... or maybe it was a day...), and her sister made her reactivate it in order to wish her a happy birthday on FaceBook. Because doing it in real life, or via text or phone call wasn't good enough.

Carly and I then discussed how we thought FaceBook was dumb, and about how everyone would probably spend less time on it if they were only friends with their actual friends. You know, use FaceBook with the intent of keeping in touch with people, not just to creep. Beware friends list, you're going to get severely chopped come June!

Day 7 & 8

I'm starting a new feature called:

I've done this before, but not with the fancy header. This will be the visual finds, demanding me to like them. I have four listed on my previous post, so let's continue with #5.

• 5) I went shopping with my mother in the quaint town of St. Charles, Illinois. We had received coupons for a little shop called Jeans and a Cute Top Shop from Groupon. It's a cute shop, but really expensive. I'm talking over $100 for a pair of jeans. Usually this isn't the type of place my mom or I like to shop, but we had a coupon! On the register was a huge sign saying, "Like us on FaceBook!" I'm assuming, since it's an expensive place, the majority of people who shop there are older women. (What 20-something has that much money to spend on jeans?) Since the older demographic are on FaceBook now, this makes sense to have a sign. After inspecting their FaceBook page (I did it for research) it looks like they give out coupons, show the new styles and merchandise, and overall just use it to get their new items out. Interesting, when I googled Jeans and a Cute Top Shop, the first link was their FaceBook page. Their actual website is just a jpeg image. I wonder how many other companies are going through FaceBook as their main website? Is that professionally acceptable now-a-days?
• 6) This past weekend I returned to my dance studio from my youth, Moves. I'm apart of a modern dance company called Sixth Position, and we held an improv workshop fundraiser for our final show in July. Posted right below the clock in one of the big studios was a sign saying, "Hey Kids! Find us on FaceBook!" I like the opener of "Hey Kids!" Unlike number 5 above, this sign is geared towards the younger demographic. Moves generally houses dancers ages 3-18. I must confess, I believe I am a fan of them on FaceBook... From what I can remember, they mostly post about upcoming dance events, reminders about the recital, etc. Other than that... there really isn't a point to 'liking' them.

I would also like to comment onthese two websites I found.

Unfriendable and LameBook.

They are both basically the same thing, meaning they have the same concept. Fans of the site send in screen caps of their FaceBook feed when something moronic happens. The names of the people are censored, unless they are openly mocking something... like the picture above. These are fun to look at, but they get old. I'm more of a fan of the former because the people who manage the site are smart and credited people. The main guy, Emerson Spartz, founded Mugglenet.com. MUGGLENET! I was impressed. Won me over in a jiffy. Lamebook, on the other hand, exploits only real people (no fun Harry Potter madness over there!) and goes so far as to include non-censored pictures... which they then openly mock. Not cool, I would be furious.

One last thing, I promise.

(This is what happens when I don't blog all weekend)

This article. (Notice how the picture is from Unfriendable.com. Why?! Because these two sites are run by the mugglenet guy. SO respected right now) So, unfriend is 2009's word of the year? Personally, I defriend people, but unfriend is apparently more commonly used. I know words get added to the dictionary yearly, but it's weird to see it happen in my lifetime. I was alive for FaceBook and Twitter's birth, I'm not supposed to be this old!

Day 6

Oops, I didn't blog yesterday.

Oh well, anyway. Yesterday I wanted to see how many times I saw something like, "Post this to FaceBook," or "Like us on FaceBook," and then judge to see whether it would be worth it. I didn't see very many, but maybe I wasn't looking hard enough.

First one was at the end of an iPhone game. It's called Kitchen Carnage and stars The Annoying Orange from YouTube. Yes, I'm a YouTube junkie. Yes, I got the iPhone game. No, I didn't pay the .99 cents for it because my phone is jailbroken. Anyway, at the end of the game, like you can see, you can post your score on FaceBook. I wouldn't do this. Simply because I doubt none of my other friends are playing this game, so why do they care that I got 3650 points? Not worth it. [edit: Just beat my high score, it's now 9175 points. I thought you all would want to know.]

I also see this option at the bottom of most news articles. This feature is warranted. I 'click-to-tweet' interesting news a lot, or at least get a lot of my news from 'click-to-tweet' features. It's a good way to spread important news... or not so important news about Charlie Sheen.

While trying to get my photobucket account rolling (I'm over bandwidth, and North Central things it's a good idea to have bandwidth, so I'm stuck with snail-speed internet for the time being) I noticed a FaceBook button. My problem with this is, if you're going to put a picture to FaceBook, why don't you just upload it yourself? Not worth it.

Lastly, while getting ice cream yesterday at the Häagen Dasz downtown, we noticed a little thumbs up sticker on a display cup telling us to "Like us on FaceBook!" Now, 1) Häagen Dasz is delicious. 2) It's also kinda expensive. [edit: my dazzler (it's like an ice cream parfait) was $7.12. Lizzie bought a pair of shoes for cheaper than that earlier in the day] Liking them on FaceBook might provide you with coupons of all sorts, so is it worth it? YES.

is it possible?

Thus far in my experiment I haven't been able to go one full day without someone mentioning FaceBook, or seeing something related to FaceBook. Four seperate things came up today.

1. My previous post. Look yourself.

2. I saw this news article. It basically says the US government is trying to get rid of the 5 level alert system for terrorists and such. They'll bring it down to two levels and, if appropriate, they would post the alerts on FaceBook and Twitter.

The new terror alerts would also be published online using Facebook and Twitter "when appropriate," the plan said, but only after federal, state and local government leaders have already been notified.

It's a good way to get information out quicker, but I feel like people won't take it as seriously. That kind of stuff should be plastered on our TV's and on the front page of Google, newspapers and magazines. I guess I just get irked when people take FaceBook super seriously (like it's 'real life'), so this concept appears ridiculous.

3. In my Creative Nonfiction class, one of my classmates printed and taped little labels that said, "(her name) likes this" all around campus. She happened to put one on the podium in that class. It's hard for me to pay attention. All I can think about is how much she likes that podium...

4. Text from Jordan: Ugh. You don't have FaceBook. Come over when you have a spare minute. What could it possibly be? Oh, let me guess, another attractive girl who has big boobs in her profile picture?! Hmmm.

Day 4 - Quitting FaceBook improved my oral hygiene

Lizzie: Are you going to Ashley's birthday party?

Me: I don't know, did she invite me on FaceBook?

Lizzie: AHHHH! ...yes.

I feel like when I get invited to parties or other events on campus now, I'm invited because the host wants me to be there, not because they can get a higher number of attendees on FaceBook. They have to actually put forth an effort to seek me out in other ways and invite me. It kinda feels nice... I know who values my friendship.

Random thing I notice: I'm brushing my teeth more. When I have awkward chunks of time before class or work, I would usually dilly-dally on FaceBook until I have to leave. But today I found myself bored and thought, "hum, I haven't brushed my teeth yet... I'll go do that." Same situation during the evenings and mornings, not just early afternoons at 1:37. I guess I can safely say quitting FaceBook has improved my oral hygiene.

kinda creepy

I was checking my Twitter feed today and found this gem. It's creepy, and I know a few people who had this happen to them. Do not want.

Also, I've been realizing already how being off FaceBook really makes relationships seem more real. I can tell who is my friend and who is my FaceBook friend. Instead of just typing my name into a search bar, you actually have to take the effort to call, text, or *gasp* actually see me in person. I realize I have some strictly internet friends, but I'm not counting them, I'm talking about the friends on campus, and those who can call/text me without a charge up the ass. I have my good international/out of state friends numbers' already anyway. It's also interesting the number of people who gave me their phone number (when I didn't previously have it) right before I logged off for good. I got 2 new phone numbers, and that proves that I'm more than just a FaceBook Friend.

I was reading in a book for class, "My Life as an Experiment" and it's about this guy, A.J. Jacobs, who does certain things for 30-50 days. In this chapter he was being honest 24-7. No white lies, no nothing. It ended with this quote:

It's going to be hard to keep secrets when every second of your life is Twittered [or FaceBooked] and satellite-photographed and captured by tiny camera. The truth will out.

That is also kind of scary. If you think about the things people actually post on things like FaceBook and Twitter, it can definitely get pretty personal. Nothing is private anymore. You say something bad about one person on the Internet, and somehow it can (and will) get back to them. Once it's out there, you can't really take it back. Being unplugged from FaceBook really helps me realize that. The first thing I told myself was, "Wow, I have a private life..."

I'm liking the feeling of being unplugged.

Day 3

I just thought of something hilarious.

I'm at work, thus I cannot text. Something interesting happened, and I wanted to text my bff Jordan, but couldn't. Instead I wrote the interesting tidbit on a post-it note. Luckily he came by the front desk, and I gave it to him. But wouldn't it have been funnier if I posted it to his wall? Like, you know, his actual wall? The one in his room?

Damn, I'm clever.

Salad + FaceBook picture = I don't care

It boggles me how some girls use FaceBook.

Today in my Creative Nonfiction class we had to go around the room and read a few of our classmates pieces. I land on some girls piece printed off in blue ink, single spaced, really hard on my eyes. It wasn't very interesting to boot. It was about how she doesn't eat salad, but one day she put ranch dressing on it, and all of a sudden loved salad. Sweet, right? Well, next she writes how she took a picture of the salad and posted it to FaceBook.

Is that what our society has come to? Instead of, oh, telling your friends that you've eaten salad (assuming that's a huge deal) and seeing their reaction in person, you take a picture and post it to FaceBook, where countless amounts of other friends see it and not give a crap.

It irks me sometimes that FaceBook has entered into every 20-somethings lives this much. And once you're off it, you notice it so much more.

Did you see my status?

Did you see xyz's picture?

No, why don't you tell me about it now?

Day 2

To continue off of the last entry:

Jordan: Did you see that picture... wait, no, can I show you?!

Does it count if Jordan logged on as himself on my computer? I didn't play, but I did glance at my last status on the news feed. My brother commented, but it only flashed on screen before it changed. So, for about .3 seconds I had an itch, but it quickly dissipated.

I had to write a project proposal for my ART 460 class. The highest art class at North Central College. I'm wondering how long it would have taken if between every paragraph I went on FaceBook. Hell, between every few sentences! I'm telling you, I'm terrible... It only realistically took about a half hour, probably shorter if I didn't take a chit-chat break with friends. I got all of my homework done for today, it's a nice feeling, and I have a hunch not wasting time on FaceBook helped me a bit.

...no

Jordan: Did you see that picture of me on FaceBook where I was like Shmee!!?

Me: ...nope! :D

Day I: So it begins.

For my Creative Nonfiction class with Zachary Michael Jack, I was asked to give up or add something to my life. Challenge myself, do experiments with myself in order to create an interesting piece of nonfiction. So I thought, "hmm, I'm not a TV addict, no way in hell I'm giving up YouTube, I don't have any knitting obsessions... how about FaceBook?" I've been wanting break free from my FaceBook chains for a while now, but haven't had to guts to do it. Thankfully this assignment was created, not to mention I have 6 hours worth of classes just on Tuesday-Thursday alone...

Let's begin. I'm just going to say it... I'm a FaceBook addict. In the morning, before I even get out of bed, I grab my phone and check FaceBook, Twitter, and my email. All while I'm safe and warm under my covers. It's terrible. Are baby photos of Freyja and status about people complaining really that important?! No, but apparently I think so.

There is always a FaceBook tab open. Whenever I see the (1) in the tab preview, I check it right away, then I get distracted with a status, oh! Lizzie has a new profile picture. Look, she knit something really cute, that reminds me, how is Ashley? Is she still knitting? Wow, this person, who I don't know, is really weird looking, why is this persons profile picture a pokemon? Is there some sort of event I don't know about? Oh look, I got invited to, "Change you profile picture to your favorite pokemon" month. From then on, I gotta google-search Bidoof, save to my computer, upload on FaceBook, and BAM, comments come flooding in already.

.... really? Really Aimee? That was at least 15-20 minutes, wasted away on Bidoof.

So, this is where the action starts. On the evening of April 3rd, I trusted my boyfriend Julien to change my FaceBook password. I figure that is the best way to avoid it. I don't have the will to just not log in, Google Chrome can't simply block websites, and I don't want to deactivate it. But, if you think about it, all of those other plans of actions can be reversed. Having Julien, who is in Montreal, change my password is fool-proof. There is no way I can reverse that.

Now here I am. Right after he changed it I flipped a little, but the initial ...shit has worn off. Thus far it hasn't affected me much... I've been busy creating this blog, so I'm not too terribly bored at work. I'll keep you updated with further feelings.

Last message I saw: Bradley Palko.

Last friend I added: Cassy S... something.