I sat down tonight to punch out a blog, but literally nada came to mind. However, a quick peak into the mailbag solved that problem in a hurry. Warning - if you don't use Facebook (and I know there are still a few of you holding out) this question and answer won't make quite as much sense. Or perhaps you'll make more sense of it than I will because this one is a winner:
Dear HTF,
As you know, I am new to Facebook & I’m still trying to figure it out. I thought it was supposed to be a friendly place, but whenever I sign on, I find that people are throwing everything under the sun at me: snowballs, drinks, iceballs, ornaments, flair, etc. It is a little overwhelming. What is all of this stuff?? When I click on the links, the computer asks to access all of my private info, & I freeze, back slowly away, & hope that it didn’t notice me. And, what in the heck is a poke?? When I went to the help page, it just says that a poke “can be used for a variety of things.” Like what? Can I get it to fix my dryer? Move my car when the no parking zone goes into effect? Cook me a spaghetti dinner? Take me to Ikea?
I went to my all knowing sister for advice, & she advised me to ignore all the extraneous stuff & continue just focusing on what I have been doing--posting random Muppet videos, replying to my own posts, and trying to figure out if I know these people from high school or from my television. That’s easy for her to say because she has over 200 friends. She can ignore pokes and sn
So I decided to turn to you, Captain Facebook, for your thoughts on the matter. As part of my appreciation, I am throwing at you what I think will become the newest and most popular application in Facebook: the potato boat!
AGM, doing my share to fill the HTF mailbox since 2008
Well, AGM, you both called me "Captain Facebook" and awarded me a potato boat, for which I am deeply troubled appreciative. In my first week of joining The Book (I'm told that's what the kids are calling these days) over a year ago I was bitten by a werewolf, kidnapped, involved in a Mob-related Jewelry Store Heist, hit by the aforementioned snowball, invited to overthrow a government (I'm not sure which one), involved in the "worlds biggest pillow fight," and got Super-poked (OUCH) by someone I supposedly knew in high school, which made me really uncomfortable. (If you thought a normal poke was powerful, you should see what a SuperPoke can do. I once used one to make Rosie O'Donnell stop talking - that's powerful.)
So I was a bit overwhelmed like you. I'm a pleaser you see - someone who tries to keep the peace and not ruffle feathers - keep the sailing smooth - don't rock the boat - you get the idea (those idioms would all be great band names). But then I discovered the "IGNORE BUTTON." After pushing it a few times I felt really empowered. Now I hit that baby a half dozen times a day. Yeah, I have just a few friends on The Book and you'd think they'd get the idea that I never, almost never, click "ACCEPT." But I guess they are intent on involving me in their lives of crime or at least giving me a virtual bruise.
So my friend, this post is a bit long already, so just take my advice - Click ignore, unless it's something like a really cool piece of "flair" with a chimp throwing fedoras or something. In that case you fire some of that action my way!
