Stabbed in the back by a true Friendster(r).
Thursday, September 29th was an earth-shattering day for stalkers everywhere. My last memory of that day was was turning on my computer at work, checking my Friendster(r) account, and noticing a lovely new feature called "Who's Viewed My Profile?" To my utter shock and dismay, I was able to see everyone that had viewed my profile in the last several months. 90 people. Quite a range of 90 people, I must add. About 75 percent of them were young Indian men in the Southern California area perhaps looking for a potential new bride- for example, I noticed one man I'll call Amir. In addition to these men, I noticed my friends and I noticed the new girl that my ex is dating- which means the worst of the worst has happened- she has seen me too! Not only has she seen me, but many of her friends might recognize my face in their profiles as they're perusing the pages upon pages of people that have viewed them.... aaaaaaaaaaaaaagh. To be fair, I do sit in front of a computer all...day...long.
Up until now, Friendster had prided itself upon the anonymity of its users- making it the perfect tool for those twenty and thirtysomethings that feel the pretense underlying myspace.com is too desperate for them- that they can cloak themselves in the seemingly harmless facade of amicability and sheer friendliness that is Friendster(r).
On my ride home I contacted as many people as possible- and each had the same response of shock and awe at the sheer audacity of the once-trusted friend that never talked back, that never took advantage of us. My first friend's first action was to sign on as soon as possible- "Oh my god, this is terrible, absolutely terrible!" I walked her carefully through the process of changing her settings so that she is now anonymous. My next friend, a teacher, was trying to grade papers, but could not concentrate after I delivered this sad news. "Oh my god, you're fucking kidding! No way!" She was a little more collected then my last friend- I made the comment that this was the worse news I've gotten in a long time, and she replied, "Well, that's pretty good, then, isn't it?" I had to concede to that, I guess.
When I contacted my third friend, I was lying in bed sick, both from this news and from an actual cold. We had plans that night, but I had to cancel because of my illness. The situation was so abominable to her that she demanded that I immediately come over and walk her through the process of becoming anonymous, and that we must go for a drink later to recover from this. Friendster(r) is affecting my health now. We both sat together on her couch, and I noticed a friend of mine had looked at her, and who else- Amir! Not only was he scouting me, but my friend as well! I felt dirty, violated- like I'm just one of many women in a sea of Los Angeles women available for viewing like a funeral wake.
Last night I was at a party, discussing this news with a group of UCLA Psych students, and had a classic insert-foot-in-mouth experience. My friend was making a joke about how someone he knew had actually deleted their account because she felt she needed a fresh start. I couldn't believe it- "It's bad, but not that bad! How can she rebuild after doing all of that? That's many years' worth of work!" He made a cautionary face and pointed to the girl standing next to us, and then I realized that she was the said deFriendster. I was so curious, I had to ask why she did it. She explained that she was talking to a friend of hers that had deleted his account, and subsequently all of this person's friends had deleted their accounts as well, so he recommended that she delete hers too. This was the Waco, Texas of the internet world, and she was a Branch Davidian. She went on and explained that she had created an account for her cat, and used the cat to look at people as well, so the cat will appear on multiple people's accounts as well. The ordeal just had to be solved by getting rid of her account. "I had too many friends, anyway. It's time to pare down."
I feel betrayed, hurt, and confused. So do twenty and thirtysomethings across America and throughout the world (it seems as though the entire nation of the Philippines is on Friendster). I'm deciding what my next step should be. I have a feeling that myspace users are dwelling in schadenfreude right now, as they right well should. Friendster(r), you have a lot of explaining to do.
note: the (r) indicates registered trademark
Thursday, September 29th was an earth-shattering day for stalkers everywhere. My last memory of that day was was turning on my computer at work, checking my Friendster(r) account, and noticing a lovely new feature called "Who's Viewed My Profile?" To my utter shock and dismay, I was able to see everyone that had viewed my profile in the last several months. 90 people. Quite a range of 90 people, I must add. About 75 percent of them were young Indian men in the Southern California area perhaps looking for a potential new bride- for example, I noticed one man I'll call Amir. In addition to these men, I noticed my friends and I noticed the new girl that my ex is dating- which means the worst of the worst has happened- she has seen me too! Not only has she seen me, but many of her friends might recognize my face in their profiles as they're perusing the pages upon pages of people that have viewed them.... aaaaaaaaaaaaaagh. To be fair, I do sit in front of a computer all...day...long.
Up until now, Friendster had prided itself upon the anonymity of its users- making it the perfect tool for those twenty and thirtysomethings that feel the pretense underlying myspace.com is too desperate for them- that they can cloak themselves in the seemingly harmless facade of amicability and sheer friendliness that is Friendster(r).
On my ride home I contacted as many people as possible- and each had the same response of shock and awe at the sheer audacity of the once-trusted friend that never talked back, that never took advantage of us. My first friend's first action was to sign on as soon as possible- "Oh my god, this is terrible, absolutely terrible!" I walked her carefully through the process of changing her settings so that she is now anonymous. My next friend, a teacher, was trying to grade papers, but could not concentrate after I delivered this sad news. "Oh my god, you're fucking kidding! No way!" She was a little more collected then my last friend- I made the comment that this was the worse news I've gotten in a long time, and she replied, "Well, that's pretty good, then, isn't it?" I had to concede to that, I guess.
When I contacted my third friend, I was lying in bed sick, both from this news and from an actual cold. We had plans that night, but I had to cancel because of my illness. The situation was so abominable to her that she demanded that I immediately come over and walk her through the process of becoming anonymous, and that we must go for a drink later to recover from this. Friendster(r) is affecting my health now. We both sat together on her couch, and I noticed a friend of mine had looked at her, and who else- Amir! Not only was he scouting me, but my friend as well! I felt dirty, violated- like I'm just one of many women in a sea of Los Angeles women available for viewing like a funeral wake.
Last night I was at a party, discussing this news with a group of UCLA Psych students, and had a classic insert-foot-in-mouth experience. My friend was making a joke about how someone he knew had actually deleted their account because she felt she needed a fresh start. I couldn't believe it- "It's bad, but not that bad! How can she rebuild after doing all of that? That's many years' worth of work!" He made a cautionary face and pointed to the girl standing next to us, and then I realized that she was the said deFriendster. I was so curious, I had to ask why she did it. She explained that she was talking to a friend of hers that had deleted his account, and subsequently all of this person's friends had deleted their accounts as well, so he recommended that she delete hers too. This was the Waco, Texas of the internet world, and she was a Branch Davidian. She went on and explained that she had created an account for her cat, and used the cat to look at people as well, so the cat will appear on multiple people's accounts as well. The ordeal just had to be solved by getting rid of her account. "I had too many friends, anyway. It's time to pare down."
I feel betrayed, hurt, and confused. So do twenty and thirtysomethings across America and throughout the world (it seems as though the entire nation of the Philippines is on Friendster). I'm deciding what my next step should be. I have a feeling that myspace users are dwelling in schadenfreude right now, as they right well should. Friendster(r), you have a lot of explaining to do.
note: the (r) indicates registered trademark
posted by Basket of Kisses at 4:45 PM
1 Comments:
Will Microsoft's Malware Fighters End Up in Windows?
My Account | Microsoft has yet to discuss publicly its distribution and pricing plans for its anti-spyware and anti-virus offerings.
I liked your blog and it's going in my favorites file. I have a free mp3 download playersite/blog. It pretty much covers free mp3 download player and free mp3 download player related stuff. See it, if you have the time.
Post a Comment
<< Home