Have you not asked for enough Sirs?! Now you want my Facebook status too?! I mean, I have big, big plans for my status on Nov. 4– but I do not need your fancy application to update my status for me. No sir. For me, part of what makes status updates fun is that they are original and a bit funny– plus, I don’t have to manage a Twitter account to still get all the little jokes and quips from my friends.
Facebook is to be commended for their GOTV efforts but, in general, I think that a person’s status update is just a wee bit sacred. In many ways it is one of the few ways to express yourself on Facebook since it isn’t pre-coded or set up based on check boxes. Thus, if Planned Parenthood sends me an update and asks me to change my status to something that supports Planned Parenthood’s mission, I am there. 100%. But, having this set up to automatically update my status just weirds me out– we wont be making our own politial statements but we’ll be simply parroting what Facebook (not even a campaign!) says for us. I find myself weighing the overall benefit of using subtle peer-pressure to remind 20-somethings to vote against feeling like we’re on the verge of giving up too much personality to Facebook’s pre-programed boxes and charts. (Whew… what a sentence). I’m left wondering if it is better to have more sincere messages going from friend to friend but risk having fewer of those messages in circulation than it is to have this auto-updated status…
So, while I appreciate the motivation for Facebook on this one… I just can’t get on board. I’d rather know what my friends are actually thinking on election day than just knowing they pushed a few buttons and feel like their political thoughts are taken care of. Just sayin’
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November 10, 2008 at 10:10 am
[...] wanted to let ya’ll know that Jezebel agrees with me. Writing about the post-election reaction on Facebook, the Jezebel ladies note: But then [...]