A proper way to use Facebook? - and a WINNER!

The winner of my dress giveaway is... Underfunded Heiress! Huzzah to UH! Hopes this adds to your "funds" :P



And the winner of the secret prize - a pair of earrings and/or rings from Forever 21 - is: ANONYMOUS! Ok actually, your email is f_marbella! Yay Marbella! I have your email so I will get in touch with you shortly (in case you don't read this :P)

I will send out your dress and jewels as soon as I can (PLEASE EMAIL ME :) and I apologize to the winners of the last contest - your dresses are all packaged up and ready to go however I have been short on postage money and THEN I moved, so I haven't the time. Regardless, EVERYONE should received their stuff next week :)


So...I was on Facebook (as I do during work and times of procrastination) and again, someone lectured me on the use of Facebook. You may remember this post back when this bitch (who admittedly hates me) said I shouldn't use my Facebook status for trivial things like complaining about my weight. To which I said, wtf? Who are you, Facebook Police? I didn't know we had to donate our statuses to end world hunger, biyatch.

Well, it seems the Facebook police have it in for me AGAIN!

I had learned - through Facebook - that someone I knew died in a plane crash. A small plane with two pilots - which was transporting donated blood - nosedived into a parking lot pre-landing last night. As it happens, I went to high school with one of the pilots.

So I mentioned that in my status, paying my respects, as all my other friends have, saying RIP - his initials, not name - and that I was sad he had to go in such a tragic way, etc.

Anyway, this guy from Ireland whom I did volunteer English teaching in Spain with, and which I remember being a fairly easy-going and nice guy (although he did fall in love with a married Spanish woman), suddenly attacks me on the proper use of Facebook, like out of NOWHERE (this has been edited for shortness sake):

His Facebook comment: If you make comments every 20 minutes on Facebook about every mood swing that you have, or enlightening random individuals such as me as to how pissed off you are at work, or how hung over you are, then expect people to say "could I care less???". Facebook ought to be about keeping in touch with life developments, not boring people with updates as to what you had to eat half an hour ago and how it is moving through your digestive system. You know, maybe its a cultural thing and I just don't get it.

Me: Well I am not sure how they use Facebook in Ireland, but looking at my newsfeed, I see hundreds of friends using Facebook the same way that I do. There is no right or wrong way.

HIM: Hundreds of friends giving updates every hour or so...!!! That's a lot of mood swings. How do you keep track? If you have to read (and maybe even comment on) each contribution, how do you find time to do things such as work, or eat, or give time to other people? Not trying to be bad or anything - but do you not find a lot of those updates to be totally unnecessary?

ME: Peter, I don't know, I don't give Facebook that much thought. It's a time killer and a way to keep in touch with people you want to keep in touch with. It takes a minute to scan your newsfeed and read people's updates and then MAYBE comment, if it compels you. Facebook can be a waste of time if you want it to be - it can also be a great communicator. For example, today via people's statuses I learned someone I knew died last night. It has many uses.

HIM: I know that you found out that someone died. So did hundreds of other people who also probably don't know who you are talking about. I'm very sorry that this person died but I didn't need to know. Do you not think that this should be a personal thing between you and only other people who knew individual?

ME: Not really - if it doesn't interest them, then people don't have it read it. I read tons of things that are unrelated to me and I honestly don't give them a second thought.

HIM: That's fair enough Karina. I suppose that I don't send messages to people if the messages aren't related to them in the first place. Particularly if they are about someone dying.

ME: If people I knew hadn't written many updates about this person dying and publicly paying their respects, then I wouldn't have known. And now other people that knew him know now too, because of my status. This is how some news travels in this world.
I'm not concerned with the people who aren't involved reading it - I know they think "that's sad, "someone she knew died" and they move on. What else is there to think? I'm not playing journalist and thinking I need to think about my "audience" before I write something on Facebook. It would be impossible for me - and for most people - to make a status that would be relevant to every person on their Facebook. I sometimes post things that are only relevant to ONE person. It doesn't, and shouldn't, matter.

So that was the last word on the matter (at this point). What do you think?

You know what I think...Facebook - like blogs, like THIS blog - are a way to communicate with people. I don't think there was anything wrong with me publicly paying my respects to someone that died. I see people do this all the time and I never, ever think anything of it except that "Aw that's sad." That's it. I never think "I didn't need to know that." Well, maybe if the status was "I took a big dump" but even then, I don't say anything, it's funny, it's Facebook, who cares?

Facebook, Blogs, Twitter - it's up to you how to use it and there is no right or wrong way. How dare someone tell me - tell anyone - that they aren't using it correctly. If you don't like what you read, then don't read it! And if you think it's so trivial, why are you commenting? Don't you see the hypocrisy in that? I can't talk about anything I want and yet you somehow can admonish me for what I say? Not everyone likes what they read on some people's statuses - I have gotten in many fights before over people's content or comments - BUT that has nothing to do with the use of Facebook itself.

It makes my blood boil, I tells ya. And yes, I probably shouldn't have said anything but I am stubborn and his patronizing attitude was more than enough. I mean, it's freakin' FACEBOOK, get used to it.

OK, rant over. I went to the beach again last Friday night (last bonfire for awhile)and had some wine, eats and girls gabs. Here are some pics:



Dress: H&M - bought in Oslo in 2006 after my aunt accidently threw away my favourite pants and so I bought this dress to make myself feel better. Best pants ever :( Shoes: Sam Edelman