Facebook has now become one of Filipino’s most favorite social networking sites. And because of this, one can readily name different types of users by merely observing their status messages. Last Sunday, I happened to watch QTv’s “Ang Pinaka”, with the topic “Ang Pinaka Pasaway na Facebook user”. But then again, after seeing the list, I asked myself what kind of facebook user a person has to be so he/she won’t be included in the list of ‘pasaway’ users. And so, I changed the subject line while still retaining the list.
The top ten most famous type of facebook users are:
10. THE SYMPATHY BAITER
Sympathy baiters are those who post status messages like “I’m sad because I failed” or “my boyfriend cheated on me! Am I not worth loving?”. This type of facebook user basically wants his friends to feel sorry and empathize with him. Admittedly, sympathy baiters can get very irritating especially when they expect you to identify with their depression. But then, we can not blame them. Facebook may be the only avenue for them to express their sadness.
9. THE OBSCURIST
This kind of facebook user tends to post messages that are vague and hard to understand. They take pleasure in posting something that would make other people think hard and be amazed with him.
8. THE PAPPARAZO
Paparazzos are people who are fond of posting photos/videos of their friends as their status message—and they’re doing it without the person’s consent. They do this every time they use facebook, and they take pleasure in doing this.
7. THE BAD GRAMMARIAN
Text lingo, gay lingo, and the combination of big and small letters—these are the characteristics of a bad grammarian. Although a lot of people are used to this kind of communicating or expressing their thoughts, it is sometimes very annoying because not a lot of people are used to reading words typed in ‘tHis MaNNeR’. It looks hard to read, and inappropriate for an online site like facebook where a lot of people can read it. But more than that, this type of status messaging has a bad effect on the person in such a way that it can affect a person’s communicating skills. When a person gets used to this kind of writing, there is a high possibility that he or she would use this in his or her work.
6. THE CHRONIC INVITER
Chronic inviters are those who keep on bombarding people with invites to join their games, causes, quizzes, applications, and so on. Inviting people once in a while is okay. But doing it every single day is a different thing. Besides, one has an option to skip inviting friends.
5. THE CRANK
“I WANNA KILL THE GIRL WHO STOLE MY BOYFRIEND!!”, “I HATE THE TRAFFIC IN MANILA!!”
These are some examples of a crank’s posts. Cranks are fond of complaining, ranting, and whining about everything.
4. THE SELF PROMOTER
Self promoters tend to promote their blogs, videos, events, and businesses in facebook. They do this by providing links that would connect friends to the actual site. Promoting personal sites is okay. But there should always be a limit to it. People have to keep in mind that facebook is an avenue to communicate with friends. One must not transform facebook into an online billboard.
3. THE FRIEND PADDER
The more friends, the merrier—this is the motto of a friend padder. He keeps on adding friends, and even people he does not know. Friend padders made networking a game. Some even brag about the number of friends they have in facebook! Facebook is a site where we can reconnect with our friends and loved ones, and constantly communicate with them. Because at the end of the day, real life friends are far better than virtual ones.
2. THE TMI-er (too much information)
“OMG! I have a huge pimple on my butt!”
TMI-ers consider their life as an open book and do not care if they’re already sharing too much information about their personal lives—their sex life, diseases, etc. This is very inappropriate since a lot of people are able to read their posts and may get irritated by their transparency. Discreetness and the right choice of message must always be on top of the mind of facebook users. If it’s very private, just keep it to yourself.
1.THE “LET ME TELL YOU EVERY DETAIL OF MY DAY” USER
“Just ate sinangag and tuyo for breakfast!”, “currently eating puto!”, “will use the bathroom in a while..”
These are examples of status messages of this kind of user. It’s also very irritating because who cares if you’re going to the bathroom or you’re eating puto? One must remember to always post something that is relevant or interesting to the readers.
** True enough, there are people in facebook who are like these. And personally, I can relate to every type of user since I believe I have been like them in one way or another. I have been a sympathy baiter, an obscurist, a crank, and so on. But I am most guilty of being a self promoter since I’ve been promoting my blog site, events, and videos for months now. And I must say that facebook is really an effective avenue for promotions.
There’s nothing wrong with expressing your thoughts on your facebook accounts. But we must all keep in mind that there are people who may not be able to think in the same way as we do. And there are people who may not get to jive with our interests.
After learning the different types of facebook users, I can only leave this pointer: YOU CAN STILL BE YOURSELF EVEN WHEN YOU’RE KEEPING EVERYTHING IN MODERATION.