Do You Suffer From Bad Facebook? Sniff Under Each Arm and Do Something About It.

I finally broke down and got a FaceBook account. Actually, I had a lurker account to snag photos with permission for an offline project. So, I had been watching FaceBook from the time it kicked off for all colleges through the change to the open door for everyone.

Mostly I like Facebook. I'm finding out information much faster than waiting for a phone call or GASP a letter in the mail. Some people still do it the old fashioned way, but I'm finding myself more in the loop with a Facebook account.

Sometimes "the loop" is a bit too much. While most people have some sense of what would be a reasonable amount of information to post online on a social site and what kinds of data would be interesting, others just do not have a clue.

One old friend on Facebook must start and end her day at Facebook as well as informing all her FB buddies about where she's going and what she's eating and about her doctor and dental appointments each and every day. Hey now. Too much information. I do not even keep up with my own schedule that close.

Then there are the Facebook users who discovered the applications. Oh no. It goes way beyond pokes - like what the heck are those anyway? I have to see things like the first five cars someone owned, favorite five restaurants, what Golden Girl someone is most like, and a freaky little Miss Sunshine something that I never did figure out. That's on top of getting cyber Easter Eggs and a contest to go find them (like where - I don't know and don't care) and imaginary drinks and flowers. It is the the thought that counts, and I think you ought not send nothing and call it something.

There is the option to can a friend on Facebook, but do you really dump someone for being an idiot? No. I don't think so. If there is joy to be found in knowing that you are most like Charlie Brown in the Peanuts cartoon, then so be it. That really should be your business. And, Facebook should let you play with all those online time wasting games to your heart's content and should also let your friends click a button and NOT see what you do when you're sitting in your bra and panties in front of the computer with nothing better to do than see what candy bar you would be if you really could be a candy bar.

All these little "what I am doing this very instant that is of no importance" and vanity games would not be a big deal if they did not suck up the whole page of news alerts. And, they do if you have three or four bored buddies who feel compelled to share every move and fart or play all the various games that seem to be rather popular on Facebook (for whatever reason).

You can find a block to the quiz games online if you want to shift to Firefox and paste in some code. Yawn. But, that does not take care of the notes about breakfast (what to fix, how to fix it, what was ultimately fixed and eaten, how your friend felt after eating whatever was fixed).

There's also an option at Facebook to do some blocking but not dropping a buddy who has more time than sense. Move your curser to the right side of any given post. You can block the application (quiz etc) or block the user. In other words, you do not see that one specific game again or do not have that one specific user flooding your Facebook page.

You may wonder, "Why not just remove the friend who posts ten times per day and with nothing of interest?" Well, if they are a friend, you will hurt their feelings. Also, you may want to see a personal message from the friend, and they can still send those even if you opt to take the person off your wall alerts.

Social networking sites should come with a user manual. They don't. Until they get some better sorting options, you can wade through a few nutty and constant posts by a few buddies or put them in the deep freeze but still keep the back door open if they actually do have something of value to say and specfically to you.