It always annoyed me a little that on Facebook my mini-feed would say, “Catherine just updated their About Me,” but I never gave too much thought to it. Well, Facebook just announced that they’ve updated it to say either “his” or “her.” This is great for people who care about matching nouns with pronouns, but not so good for transgendered members of the Facebook community. Luckily, Facebook will allow people to manually opt out of the gender classification. “We have a lot of respect for these communities, which is why it will still be possible to remove gender entirely from your account,” said Facebook product manager Naomi Gleit. It’s nice to know they’re sensitive to this, isn’t it? [CNET] Keep reading »
Tag Archives: facebook
Poll: Would You Date A Friend’s Ex?
Here’s the deal. A few months ago, I was dating a guy I was really into. One night, at a party, a friend of mine approached us. Except, she didn’t seem to want to talk to me — she flirted with my man while his arm was wrapped around me! She even asked for his email address and then fumbled for a reason — she wanted to add him to her comedy show’s e-blast. I’m so sure — at least wait for the relationship to die before you swoop in like a vulture. But since I didn’t want to cause a Jerry Springer-style scene over it, I shrugged it off and thought, Nice try sweetheart, but he’s leaving with me.
A couple months later, that guy and I broke up and she friended me on Facebook. Feeling guilty for making fun of her and even sillier for holding a grudge on someone who clearly wasn’t a threat, I decided to accept her friendship (on the Internet at least). But Facebook is full of all sorts of TMI — profile picture changes, updates on favorite books, and the one that got me: accepted friend requests. Months after the chick hit on my man — okay, my ex-man — he accepted her friend request as well. I did a little web-stalking and found out that they’re now dating. I’ve always thought that I didn’t care about exes and friends dating (like when Denise Richards hooked up with her friend Heather Locklear’s husband after they split), but now I’m rethinking my position. What’s your verdict? Keep reading »
The Daily Squeeze: Carla Bruni-Sarkozy’s Lovers, Facebook Changes, And Chicago Bulls’ Garters
Use Facebook Instead Of Sending Wedding Invitations
Weddings are expensive, that’s a fact. But there are some things you can do to keep the costs down. Alicia Rockmore, the CEO of an organizational company, says no one looks at invitations, and you should just have them printed online or send email invitations. Cheap invites are one thing, but email invitations? I think it’s bad enough when I find out my friends are engaged by looking at their Facebook pages. Read the article if you’re actually planning your wedding and want more tips that may or may not be useful. [WDSU] Keep reading »
Poll: How Soon Do You “Friend” Guys You’re Dating?
A friend of mine has been dating a guy for three weeks. They hang out a few times each week and are sleeping together, yet they’re not “friends” on Facebook. My friend thinks this is weird. It’s not as though he doesn’t use Facebook. In fact, when she was last at his apartment, he was on the website and showed her photos from his friend’s wedding. Conversely, I am “friends” with guys I went out with or kissed once, and now I’m not sure what to do about them. Do I de-friend them? Do I restrict their access to my profile? The online world makes things so confusing. Keep reading »
Secret Way That Facebook Reveals Your Top Five Stalkers! Maybe!
A Gawker tipster informs the website that if you go to your Facebook page, click on the search field, and then hit the down arrow key, a list of five people with appear. Who are those five people? So far, most people seem to be speculating that they are either the five people you search for/click on the most, the five people who search for/click on you the most, or the five most recent people you’ve clicked on. I tested the final theory by clicking on someone not in my five, but my list still didn’t change. That said, I kind of don’t want to believe that the people most obsessed with me on Facebook include a guy friend, two coworkers (Catherine and Emily — thanks gals), a guy I hooked up with years and years ago, and a random friend who I never talk to. That is depressing. Catherine’s five, on the other hand, is made up of three dudes she’s hooked up with, a guy we bowled against, and me. She is so pimp.
UPDATE: This little trick is no longer working. A Facebook insider told Gawker that the canned response from FB about this is: “The five friends that you see below the search box are populated based on people whom we think you’d be most interested in. Taking into account various factors, we attempt to make an educated guess as to who it is you’re looking for when you start typing a name in the search box. Please note that this information is only visible to you and will not be shared with your friends. We hope that this feature is helpful and we appreciate your feedback. Let me know if you have further questions.” Sorry, I call B.S. Why on earth would they conclude that this random chick I never talk to would be someone I’m most interested in? Keep reading »
Friday Quickies!
Yes, That Flair Does Make You Look Like A Rapist
One of the many stupid ways to waste your time on Facebook is by sending people “flair” — basically little icons users can put on their profile pages that represent their interests (i.e. a piece of flair of Harry Potter naked, or a piece of flair stating your love for boxed wine). But you can also send people flair that promotes rape! Like all of the ones above! So not funny right? I suppose the people behind the “Flair” application thought that rape was just like any issue, with a pro side and a con side and since they had so many anti-rape pieces of flair, they need to have some pro ones as well. Leave a message on the application’s wall, if this pisses you off. [Facebook: Pieces of Flair via Feministing] Keep reading »
Stealing A Friend’s Friend
Even as adults, we deal with the same issues we did when we were in grade school, i.e., “She stole my friend!” Friend poaching, as the Seattle Times calls it, has always been a problem, largely because we don’t have the same rules in friendships that we have in relationships. There aren’t accepted rules like “Thou shalt not date a friend’s ex without permission” in the world of friends. Having a friend stolen from you really sucks, and I should know because it happened to me in middle school. However, the practice works out really well for the poacher, who knows this new person must be at least semi-cool since their friends approve of her. Facebook has made friend poaching really easy. Go to a party, meet someone knew, friend them the next day. Some people would call this “networking,” and it is, until you stop hanging out with the person who introduced you. But maybe friend poaching is just a way of alerting you that you shouldn’t be friends with your friend anymore. Thoughts? [Seattle Times] Keep reading »
Friday Quickies!
