It’s not official until it’s Facebook official: Tips, warnings

Welcome to the 21st century everyone, home of the Internet, Twitter, Justin Bieber and the newer version of MySpace … Facebook. Suddenly e-mails are gone and messages are sent via Facebook chat. It seems as though relationships aren’t official till they are verified online.

Unfortunately, people have begun to misuse the privilege of Facebook and change the purpose of its creation. What began as a social network for people to reconnect and keep in touch with one another has turned into an online addiction.

As a teenager, I see the worst things on Facebook. Some things are crazy and should really stay off the site for many reasons.

These are 10 things I think you should NEVER do on Facebook:

* Play by play: Facebook isn’t the site to put your daily schedule. No one really cares when you eat, use the bathroom or what you’re doing every second of every day. Twitter’s saying is “follow me on Twitter,”
for a reason. If you want someone to know your business, put it there.

* Public display of affection (PDA): Does anyone like to see people showing how much they like/love each other in public? It’s just as bad when you have to read it. “I love you cuddly bear!” It hurts just typing it.

* Fighting: Everyone has heard the saying, “take it outside.” Well, that rule applies on Facebook.  People cursing at each other and being rude should be kept off the site and dealt with elsewhere.

* Game requests: No! I don’t want to be your neighbor!!! For some reason, Farmville is one of the most played games on the Internet. If you play it, send requests to people who also play it. It’s annoying to log in and have 50 requests to help you finish quests or help animals.

* Friend requests: “I don’t know you!” This is not something that you want to say when you get a friend request and if you question it, then deny their friendship. Don’t worry about the number of friends you have, if you don’t know them – don’t add them.

* Liking your own status or pictures: It’s like giving yourself a high-five. Liking your own status makes you look desperate.

* Opinions on the government: If you have something to say about our government, go to your legislature about it. Why sit there and complain like a baby? Our government is a representative democracy, which means that the legislature speaks on our behalf. If you don’t like the way the United States is run, go somewhere else.

* Don’t post about your day if you’re “sick”: If you called in sick, don’t post about how you spent the day at the beach or hanging out with friends, especially if your boss is one of your Facebook friends.

* Wrong relationship status: Even I’m guilty of this. According to Facebook, I am married to Taylor Lautner. A girl can dream can’t she? But if you aren’t married or in a relationship, don’t put that you are just because you can. Also, don’t put that you’re in a relationship, but “it’s complicated.” If it’s so complicated why are you on Facebook, when you could be out fixing it?

* Be depressing: One of the most annoying things on earth is people going around feeling bad for themselves. If you’re going to post how much you hate your life every five minutes, then go talk to someone face to face. Complaining just makes a person look self-centered, especially when there are others suffering just as much, but without all the whining.

Facebook is one of the most popular sites in the world; however, some things we see make it one of the most annoying sites. I think that by following these simple tips, Facebook could be a better website for
everyone.

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‘Facebook and artists have many things in common’

WASHINGTON: The author of ‘Friending the Virgin: some thoughts on the pre-history of Facebook’ has said that social networking sites like Facebook and artists like Rembrandt have many things in common.

According to author Larry Friedlander, the main commonality lies in the act of portraiture, which consists of more than just the realistic depiction of a subject, but also a number of rhetorical decisions closely intertwined with evolving ideas of identity and society.

The article points out the complex negotiations that artists had to make when painting some of their most famous works, similar to the choices people make today with respect to selecting images, interests, and descriptions to represent themselves on Facebook.

“In traditional portraiture pose, gesture, prop, costume, glance provided the raw materials out of which a specific presence was evoked,” said Friedlander.

“For example, in (the) portrait by Rembrandt of Nicolaes Ruts, the sitter presents himself to the viewer with admirable directness. Ruts was a Mennonite fur trader and his sable coat and hat refer to his trade. Nothing extraneous distracts from the image’s message: this is a merchant, a rich man, evidently serious and respectable,” added Friedlander.

Similarly, today’s Facebook -or any social networking site– profile allows contemporaries to share their collective portraiture. This may seem easier than sitting for a portrait, but Friedlander contends that today’s tools of text, pictures and video almost allow for more potential for failure than the paintbrushes of masters.

“Anxiety, the subject’s and the viewer’s (of the painted portrait), is hidden well beneath the surface. But it is there precisely in the artist’s effort to smooth those anxieties out of existence,” said Friedlander.

“We, in contrast, wear our anxieties on our sleeves. But both Rembrandt and Facebook strive for mastery over the challenges of representation,” added Friedlander.

The finding has been published in SAGE Open.

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