Don't poke me!
By now, it is probably safe to assume that you and most of your friends and family have a facebook account.Facebook is a handy tool for many of us. In fact, my class reunion was actually planned using facebook a couple of years ago. It is also a great way to stay in touch with long-distance friends. The social networking phenomenon has spawned an entirely new culture and with it, a whole new set of vocabulary words and behavior.
For instance, the term "facebook official" typically refers to any change in your facebook profile. If you were to switch political affiliations and make note of the change on facebook, it would then be "facebook official". I've heard about people finding out that they were dumped when they read the status update online - before they ever heard it from the other person.
With this access to up to minute the personal details also comes a new set of problems and etiquette. I have a friend who has been in an exclusive relationship for about a year. Recently, she asked if I thought it was strange that her boyfriend had yet to update his facebook status to announce that they were in a relationship together. I had to laugh. The fact that facebook could cause a ripple in their otherwise smooth relationship is quite amusing to me. Then I realized that this is probably a very common argument in this day and age.
Another facebook behavior that completely dumbfounds me is the act of "poking". On facebook, you can "poke" friends as an even less time-consuming means of saying hello. Can you imagine walking around poking people instead of saying "Hi"? It's pretty absurd. Personally, I don't like being poked – I bruise very easily. And using facebook is such a diluted means of communicating, why cheapen it even further?