'25 Things' Meme Shows People, Press Never Tire of Chain Letters
from the i-still-don't-care-how-craaaaaaazy-you-were-in-college dept
You've probably heard of this "25 Random Things About Me" note craze that's going around Facebook: somebody writes a note containing 25 facts about themselves, then tags 25 people who are supposed to do the same. It's pretty much the same as any other similar chain letter-type of thing that's bounced around the internet since the heydays of AOL and Prodigy, except perhaps for the fact that it doesn't ask you to send a sick kid a postcard at the end. It's hard to decide what's more striking about the craze: people's continued fascination with this sort of thing and their willingness to participate, or the media's obsession with them. It's hard to tell just how many people have taken part on Facebook thus far, but traffic to the site's Notes is four times higher than usual, according to one estimate, with 28 percent of Facebook's US users checking out a note at some point in January. As for the media, check out the "mystery" over who originated the 25 Things meme (short answer: nobody has any idea). Maybe the most interesting thing here is how the 25 Things meme plays into the ideal of social currency. For some people, they see the list as a way to enhance their social currency within a community by sharing info that will make others view them more positively. But then there's those of us who have been "tagged" 50 times already, and see any more tags as a way for people to devalue their social currency even further.Thank you for reading this Techdirt post. With so many things competing for everyone’s attention these days, we really appreciate you giving us your time. We work hard every day to put quality content out there for our community.
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Filed Under: chain letters, memes
Companies: facebook
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Really?
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Of Course
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Lost
Many of the IT folk I know prefer bashing on their fav blogs to show their true colors. There are lots of other people who are using this more direct, and perhaps honest approach. And it isn't because they are prompted, its because it is painless and seems to work well depending on how you use FB.
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I still won't make one.
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Re:
It looks to be her only group not dedicated to food, or making jewelery that looks like food.
Way to overreact to an icebreaker! It's just supposed to be something to get people to post so you can reply and connect with that person. "You hate mustard? No way, mustard is great!" or "I love beagles too!"
Heaven forfend an icebreaker exist on a social networking site.
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I didnt even want to know 1 random thing about you
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Not so hard to figure out.
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25 Things
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Linus Torvald's 25
I won't quote it--you have to see it in context.
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