Here’s my second (and last) Facebook update with Sad Pony and Squirrel. For the other two click here and here. Thus far Squirrel has twelve friends. All of his friends are my blogging buddies. Some people would call them “enablers”, but I call them freaking awesome. He has sent out friend requests to Jethro from NCIS and Sarah Palin. No response from Jethro, but Sarah froze my Facebook page demanding personal information from me and I had to shut it down to get rid of her scary face. You know, I’m thinking maybe that wasn’t really Sarah Palin.
Squirrel has gone around manically “liking” everything from Zingers and Energy drinks to every TV show with the word “Bachelor” in it. So we get lots of posts from these companies. And people not only like them, they actually comment on them. It says something when you are a squirrel on Facebook, but you don’t come close to keeping up with the weird. For instance, Fisher Nuts asks you to fill in the blank. Their latest: “This weekend I plan to ____ with ____. They really shouldn’t have left themselves so open there. (Click to enlarge.)
I like my answer best, though the guy mowing the lawn with his nuts is also amusing.
I was most curious about what sort of advertisements the two would get. Here are some of Squirrel’s. I’m not sure why. (Click to enlarge)
My favorite is the one about luxury travel. High on every squirrel’s list.
The “friending” stuff has been amusing in other ways. One of my IRL (in real life) pals is also a blogging buddy. Here’s what happened when one of my pals came up as a “suggested friend” on her facebook page. (Click to enlarge)
So many animal friends on Facebook, so little time.
But what about Sad Pony? Oh, he’s been active as well. Well, as active as he gets, which is using a mouse with his teeth. He has tried to friend several My Little Ponies but gotten no response. Rude. I guess maybe it would help if he were pink and glittery.
Sad Pony has not “liked” as well as Squirrel because he doesn’t like many things. Mostly he posts gloomy Facebook updates, because everybody loves that one friend who ONLY posts gloom and doom. On the other hand, excessively happy people can get annoying too. Observe: (click to enlarge)
Those two do have fun.
Sad Pony also got some strange advertisers, including a group that was concerned he was on Meth. I think they should have targeted that to Squirrel, personally. But what does Facebook know?
Not much. Neither do I. Though this has been interesting and at times amusing, I think it’s time to draw this experiment to a close. For one thing, it is very easy to cross the line of stupidity and offend people. Yes even I realized that. And if I’m going to friend fellow bloggers, I’d rather do so as Alice. Or the girl behind the curtain, ie the writer behind Alice.
Pay no attention to the writer behind the curtain.
But it’s a tricky thing. Part of me wants to share with all of you more of me, but the other part gets a little freaked out. When you blog, it is easier to express stuff, even stuff you wouldn’t normally express, when you are anonymous. On the other hand, it frees you to express this stuff without accountability. Should we be held accountable?
Yeah, I’m getting all serious here, and maybe too serious. Does it matter what we reveal on Facebook, especially if we are careful to keep everything private (by constantly checking to make sure Zuckerberg hasn’t changed the settings AGAIN)? I’m well aware that most people could get that information about me in other ways, if they really wanted to do so.
I’d love to interact more with blogger friends, because you can get to know people better through other social media such as Facebook. On the other hand, some things make me uncomfortable. Why does Facebook feel the need to keep suggesting the friends of my friends? Maybe they don’t want to be suggested as friends, but they don’t have a choice.
Then there is the time issue – do I have time to waste on Facebook what with all my time already being wasted on blogging and silly computer games? And it’s so easy to lose track of time on a site like that, when really I should be paying attention to my Things and that husband guy occasionally.
So as Sad Pony and Squirrel disappear from Facebook, I ask you some questions. How close are you with blogger friends? Do you have many on Facebook or other social media? Have you ever thought of tossing your Facebook account? Do you worry about privacy? I know many people have family on there, but thank goodness, I do not. So there’s not that tie for me. If you didn’t have a tie like that, would you still Facebook?
Let me know in the comments below. And thanks to everybody for playing along. You guyz are great.
aliceatwonderland 
I’ve become a bit closer with the wordpress bloggers I’ve ‘friended’ than any other group of bloggers in the past. I don’t think there’s any issue with it really, just like Pen Pals in my opinion. People who read my writing, who’s writing’s I read, and who I tend to follow on other social networks, like twitter and instagram, but not so much on Facebook.
That’s another post in itself – is a blogger friend equal to a friend you know in person? I don’t think there is a huge difference. You might not know who the online person is – they could be hiding stuff. So could the person you know personally.
I do quite often think of getting rid of FB, or at least creating a page for the blog so people can like that and making my FB much, much smaller in terms of friends, etc, but I think a page for the blog might make my head explode. It’s tough enough keeping up with normal FB, WP, the St Oswald’s page on FB, the OHP website and anywhere else that the Order turns up online.
I generally try to put as little info on FB as I can, but I also generally won’t friend someone unless I’ve met them somewhere else first, either in person or through WP (or LiveJournal).
I so very nearly went to post on Squirrel and Sad Pony’s walls to say “goodbye”…
I get you there. I had an Alice page and a personal page then realized the two were connected so people could see my real name and so the whole point was rather wasted there.
But you get to know people, and it’s like, I’m still referring to myself to a book character, and I’m calling my kids Things, and that’s so weird.
But we your WP friends understand this. We get you. Most of us on here are hiding behind some sort of persona, even if it’s only slight. (Like, being a bit more extrovert than we really are.) We don’t want this to get to the people who really know us. I know my family could find this blog because it’s linked to my FB but I tend to hold back a bit when posting, especially because I know one of the Sisters is following me, and it could also be very easy for any of the Sisters to find my blog. I think they’re unlikely to try to find my comments – it would be very time-consuming to do that – but I still try to avoid swearing, for example.
Squirrel is very sorry, then. Sad Pony told him that was a universal greeting.
I’ve just checked and there doesn’t seem to be anything there… Was Squirrel on Meth again?
Ah, well I deleted the comment and made Squirrel wash his mouth out with soap. Sad Pony told him the universal greeting was “Helloooo fuckersss!” Slightly inappropriate for a young squirrel.
And inappropriate for a depressed pony too, I would have thought!
I think Sad Pony is going through a rebellious phase.
He’s probably entering his teens, although in horse terms I think that’s when they’re about 4 years old.
Our two donkeys, Billy and Uisce, are both in theory senior donkeys, but they don’t act like it very often! I’m not sure exactly how old they are but I have a feeling they’re both in their 20’s.
I have Facebook friends and family and even colleagues and I have one fellow blogger who is also a Facebook friend…but because I am quite candid on my blog, I am not sure I want to mix the two, the anonymity is quite reassuring in that sense – although a few of my friends are actually following my blog too. I used to be a lot more active on Facebook (when it was shiny and new). Now I have set many privacy restrictions (especially to my family – we wouldn’t want them to see what I was up to at weekends now would we?) so I only share what I am comfortable sharing. I do worry about my young cousins for example who don’t seem to realise that a lot of what they are sharing is out there for the world to see and that now even employers are checking people’s profiles out before hiring (if you haven’t blocked your profile from public viewing). I sometimes get random strangers requesting to be my friend on Facebook and I don’t really get why so I ignore them…sometimes I also do a dusting up of the old friends list and delete anyone I haven’t actively spoken to in a year, what’s the point really, I am too old to play the popularity game. I use Facebook mostly to share info that I am to lazy to give separately to my friends and to create events…it’s great to keep my social life organised 🙂
Oh, the popularity game! The whole idea of “Will you be my friend?” makes me think of junior high and who the hell wants to go back there? But it is convenient for some things, and sometimes you do want to throw off your mask.
On the other hand, there is safety behind the mask. People can rip off your pictures and put them anywhere – one woman’s kid’s pic was used in a Cancer scam. And if you have something controversial you need to express, having your name behind that can be trouble.
Which can be bad on facebook too – maybe you like friend A but does friend A like your friend B? Probably not.
I’ve been asked from time to time to friend some of my fellow bloggers. I am more comfortable at this point remaining anonymous, even though I have been very tempted to agree. I love my blogger friends, but sometimes I blog about things I would rather not have people who know me see. I wish I felt comfortable revealing myself, because I am sure I would feel even more connected to these wonderful people.
My wife is also definitely not on board with the idea, and, if I open up my Facebook to my blogger friends, I am also opening them up to her – and she doesn’t want that. So alas, I stay anon for now.
Yes, that’s another problem – you friend someone, suddenly you are exposed to their friends, and the friends of those friends, and it’s like STOP IT. And I have the problem with revealing much about myself on a public blog. I mean, I have an ex boss I refer to as Satan, so that wouldn’t go over to well were that to come to light.
I have emailed some bloggers and gotten to know them better through that.
I’ve deactivated a couple of times.
Privacy? I don’t put out there what I’m not willing to share. I don’t post as much in my status anymore – who cares what my bathroom habits are, except sad pony, maybe- he cares about my bowels 🙂
I think FB has its place and if people want privacy, they should not be on it – nor should they ‘like’ stuff b/c it’s a venue for advertising. It’s a free service that makes money on adverts and people seem so surprised about all this stuff happening – it’s a FREE service – you CHOOSE to post on FB… what more can you expect?
Exactly. That’s why when I had a personal fb page, I kept it private. But then they keep changing things so you’re back public again, so you have to stay so vigilant.
I would like a place to be able to share more of myself with those I have gotten to know well on WP, the ones I trust. I really don’t have a lot of people I talk to on Facebook that I know “in real life”. Weirdly enough, I just talk directly to the people who are close by me. I do have one friend who lives in another state that I chat with, but that’s pretty much it. I don’t have family on there, either, so no point in sharing updates on that stuff.
Just to sign up, Facebook asks for so much. But with Pony and Squirrel, naturally I made all that stuff up. So I guess I could about myself too. I’d like to reveal the writer behind the curtain, but only to a select few. You would be one.
I want to KNOW! I want to KNOW!
Yes! There is something so exciting about finding a face behind the voice, isn’t it?
YES! Of course – to me, you look like Alice in Wonderland – so make sure you take a picture in a pinafore dress else I’ll be a sad pony.
Me in a pinafore dress, lol. Maybe I could get one of those sexed up Alice in Wonderland costumes off Amazon.
Do it!
That could be frightening. Wonder if they have costumes with tummy tuckers?
Hee hee –
Hey, is your avatar a self portrait or something else?
It’s a painting my husband did of Morticia Addams for my Morticia Addams Memorial Garden (everything is dead) – but he also says it’s a little bit of me in there (oh, I WISH I looked like Morticia).
Oh, Morticia! I love it! Your husband is a good artist.
Thank you – I totally think so. He made it for me on Valentine’s Day – he’s such a great gift giver – I’m fortunate in that… I’ve heard horror stories from others about their spouses inability to give a good gift (I might be one of those at times).
I used to go back and forth on deactivating FB but finally just decided to keep it and set up pages for my blogs. I like subscribing to other blog’s pages mainly to see their updates in a more timely manner since WP reader isn’t always cooperative. I blocked my family (with the exception of my spawn) on FB dropped most of my former schoolmates, mainly for spamming or political attacks-turned personal. I also have a “no current coworker” rule.
Privacy in general isn’t a concern for me like it once was EXCEPT I don’t want to know if any of my FB friends who also see me IRL know about or read my blog. Or at least, I don’t want to discuss it. Leave the online stuff online. Maybe five FB friends fit this category and so far, so good. I do love Twitter an outlet for a short rant or MST3K-style remark about a show I am watching, but those expected and accepted in that environment. I try not to overlap identities too much (Twitter and FB have different emails, Twitter and blog name are not the same) and though I am sure a technology-savvy 5th grader could crack that code easily I am not too worried.
Sometimes I do wonder if it is worth all this hassle, but knowing myself and where I can get to with depression and such, it is better to keep in constant contact electronically vs. cut off all contact with the world (even if it is just strangers on Twitter sometimes).
You like MST3K too? Yay! I love riffing stuff, but sometimes people expect me to shut up and let them hear the movie. Killjoys.
It’s tough keeping up with different identities. It’s tough keeping up with one. Like you, I have depression and my first reaction is often to curl up in my shell and hide. I’ve contemplated cutting myself off from the world many times when it gets overwhelming. I don’t have many friends I know in person. I’m pretty friendly with most of the staff at work, and that and the couple of close friends I have are enough. I’m introverted, so I don’t have time or energy for a huge social life. But my online friends count a great deal to me. Sometimes they keep me sane.
I get a little tired of people who say online friendships don’t mean anything. Not everyone is super social and ready to party all the time. And not everyone who talks online lives in a dark basement typing in their underwear.
Constantly do I think of binning Facebook, however I am a grammar Nazi and get my kicks from correcting the ‘people of special abilities’ who can’t write at all. I think I need to get out more…
Oh, that is fun, isn’t it? And the train wrecks, oh wow, the train wrecks. That’s why I love sites like STFU Parents which grab stupidity of Facebook and have fun with it.
You introduce to all the good corrupting material.
It’s a dirty job, but someone has to do it.
Great post. Loved the responses on the FB accounts.
I once did a similar experiment by loading up my OWN FB page with stupid ‘friends’ from Kotex to Trojan Condoms; just to see the ad results.
Granted, my RL is not always the thrill filled roller coaster ride portrayed on YoYo-Dyne.
It was not as amusing as hoped. On the positive side, I set upon this endeavor with my blogger friend Red, from MommasMoneyMatters. So we both had a hell of a hoot.
As for deleting FB? I think about it every day.
Main reason? I waste far too many excellent one liners and seriously funny shit on the 1000 plebes (I used to play a zynga game -no judging) that are my friends list.
In reality I know 75 of these people. It just takes too long to delete the remaining ‘friends’. FB has naturally made it difficult i.e. time consuming.
Dug your piece. Good to know I’m not alone and there is at least one other person out there thinking the same things about FB with similar demented actions taken as well -grin-.
Ha, that reminds me of the time a friend and I invaded a very strict religious sect’s chat room (we’re talking people like Westboro Baptist here, not decent religious folk) and started asking all sorts of bizarre questions like “I know women can’t speak in church, but can we hum?” and then later “Okay, can we clap? What if we use sign language, is that speaking in church?” And on and on. We finally quit. Amazingly, we never got kicked off.
Oh noes! Two of my facebook friends are disappearing?
You should do what you’re comfortable doing. I think you’d be happier as Alice rather than Squirrel or Pony, but what do I know? My social media experiments have been less than social.
Funny how sometimes you aren’t any more social on social media than you are otherwise. Especially when people you like you get to know better and then you’re like, ugh, that person’s a Republican / Presbyterian / vegetarian etc and you were much happier not hearing their view points.
No! Don’t take Sad Pony and Squirrel away from me! Noooooo!
Me? And enabler? Nah. Insane……probably.
I used to like keeping the real world and blogging separate. You are the second blogger (but the first ever imaginary animals) I added on FB. I’m starting to open up to letting go of all the privacy now. I figure what could happen? You could figure out I have a weird name? So what?! I like you guys.
It was very cool seeing your face and your name (I would have to have you pronounce it to me some time but it looks very cool and not boring like American names.) If you can loosen up, maybe I can too!
I’ve gotten closer to a few blogger friends through Facebook where it’s easier to chat through private messages. I think Facebook, and social media in general, have lulled us into sharing WAY TOO MUCH that makes us too easy to stalk. I want to stop, but it’s hard. Sometimes I wonder if I would be forced to get a real social life if I quit Facebook.
Your sad pony and squirrel posts are hilarious, btw!
That is SO true. Overshare is abundant and I’m just as guilty as anybody. I didn’t have a social life before facebook, and since I quit it, I haven’t exactly had a social life after. I mean, I have a husband and kids. Like I’m going to be painting the town?
Thanks – I had fun with those two. It’s nice to be free to do stupid stuff.
Yeah… I can’t really blame it on FB either.
I’ve become pretty close to a handful of blogging friends. Too close to a couple, and got burned. i learned from those mistakes, though. I will not let people in so easily from now on.
I understand. It’s all a learning process.
Learning fucking hurts.
Yeah. It does.
Soooo….yeah.
sorry twintdaddy 😦 majority of the peeps I do interact with on FB are part of our theme camp at Burning Man. The blogging friends on FB are minimal at best. Honestly, there is only one I correspond with on FB more than once a month. Others I have met on WP, who I was lucky enough to befriend, correspond via email.
No one deserves to be get burned. In public? Hang the fuckers.
Peace and Love,
~Miss R
No, I didn’t get burned in public…yet. But I’m just done with it. I’ve got my guard up and defcon level is raised.
Very timely! I just pissed off my mom with a facebook link to my latest blog post, and I wasn’t even using last names or writing about any relatives. Also, my mom doesn’t even use facebook! She heard about the post from my sister. Maybe I should follow Sad Pony and Squirrel’s lead…
I’ve shown a couple of blog posts to my mother and she didn’t even smile. I’m FUNNY dangit! I don’t show her my stuff anymore.
Smart lady!
Thanks!
I am just about the weirdest when it comes to social media. I openly admit it.
Twitter? Bring it on. Will talk to pretty much anyone. (Well, unless they’re a jerkity jerk, anyway. Then, block block block.)
Blog? Talk about almost (ALMOST) anything. There are, of course, some things that are off the table. I think we all have those things. I talk to all my commenters. I love the comment section; I think we have a lot of fun there. People tell me they feel included. I love that it’s like the opposite of the high school lunchroom.
Blog FB page? It’s there, I barely use it, but I have one. People are free to follow me on it if they want.
Personal FB, though? That’s where it gets touchy. I really only want people I either know in real life or am VERY comfortable with on there. I keep my family there. I keep my friends there. I don’t know if I want strangers there. So there are a select few of my internettians who make it over the wall and into my personal life, but that number is very small and that group is very select.
I know this upsets people. I have this one blogger who’s sent me three friend requests, one after the other, after I’ve denied them. I don’t even know him well enough to say, “You seem nice…but I don’t know you. And this is where my life is. So, sorry. But no.” I mean, I have something to that effect written in my FAQ, but people don’t read much, so…
Yeah, I’m hogging your comments. I’ve been mulling over this all day.
In summation: I tend to separate church and state in that once in a great while, a blogger/internet friend will become close enough they become a FB friend…but it’s not often. And that works for me. Even though it seems to be hurting people’s feelings. (Sorry, people.)
I think that’s totally understandable. I would be very cautious as well. I don’t consider everyone who pops onto my blog a good friend, but some I do consider friends because we’ve just totally clicked and we get along really well. Like a few I’ve gotten to know better through email, etc, and there is some great support there. But just your average commenter? No. I was friends with some people on FB before through a private group, and there were some super weirdos who seemed normal at first but later, um, were not.
Even then, I’m cautious. And one thing I hate about FB is how they suggest friends of your friends to everybody. Like, uh, leave them alone, kthanxbye! Everyone isn’t going to mix well. They say Google plus solves that, but no one is on there or understands it.
As I said, I don’t have family on there. Well, my brother is there but when I had an account before I always just blocked half his stuff anyway because we don’t agree politically. Other than that, I think there would only be maybe one or two friends on facebook I hang out with real life because I have a very few real life friends. Not feeling sorry for myself – generally I don’t want a lot of friends, I’m an introvert. I consider some coworkers friends, but would not put them on FB.
It’s certainly not cut and dry, which is why I still haven’t decided. I know you use your own picture and many seem to know your real name, etc. on your blog. Does this ever concern you, or is it no big deal? I see bloggers very up front about who they are. Some have blogs with their personal names. And others, like me, give out very few details, not even first names, on the blog.
At first I didn’t use my real name (and I mostly still don’t – just my first, and if people dig a little, they can find my last.) But as I got more into it, it was harder to hide it (and once I published my book, virtually impossible.) So I just cross my fingers there are no stabbers reading and continue on. I keep it fairly anonymous – I don’t talk about where I live, just the area; I don’t use friends’ names unless they’re bloggers, and then only their first names – but yeah, it’s a fine line, and we always have to be aware of it. It’s tough.
(And although I use my picture, I can guarantee you probably no one would recognize me in real life. That was on a good hair day. Those days happen about twice a year. Heh.)
You have a book? I’ve probably seen that but I have a gerbil’s memory. If I used a picture for FB or a blog or whatever, it would be one where I’m wearing makeup and have my hair done and looking all together so they would probably pass me by too!
Yep, I had a book of poetry published about a year ago (there’s a link to all the info about it at the top of my blog in all those links – I think it says something super-creative like “My Book” or something, heh.) When that came out, my last name was all over the place…so I had to get over the fact that people could probably, if they were driven to do so, find me. (Luckily, no one has. Unless there’s someone behind me RIGHT NOW.)
I don’t take blog/FB/Twitter photos except for on days I’ve been to the hairdresser. Or on days I feel pretty. And witty. And bright. (There aren’t a lot of those days.)
Ah, I see, you sneakily hid it! There is someone behind you right now. Hopefully it isn’t a creeper that likes that Dragon Tale’s show. I still get dozens of hits on that one blog post from these people.
Not for me either. Sometimes I feel charming, oh so charming, but charming doesn’t translate well to film.
It is a Dragon Tales guy. He says to tell you he doesn’t like the way you’re mocking his stories, and please cease and desist. He is also eating all my cereal and peeing and then leaving the seat up. This is the worst stalker ever.
I tried to find my blog using dragon tales, and couldn’t. I did find fan fiction sites – OMG THE HORROR.
Mostly use it for writing groups and the odd family connection but it’s a bust otherwise. Big pain the butt upkeep to make sure your stuff is private all the time, fish/filter/block garbage so you don’t waste so much time, etc. Mostly I do not appreciate the control factors ie: you cannot just select ALL PHOTOS and make Private, etc. It feels like blackmail just to keep us there with notices like: ‘even though you delete this it will still appear in feeds and on facebook elsewhere.” Why? When does delete mean NOT deleted. Oh. Nevermind me. Just jumping down the rabbit hole too far tonight, I think, tired from keeping up to all the electronic sites. Wish we could just do everything in a one stop spot/site. Ah well, happy night. Thanks for this 🙂
I agree – you shouldn’t have to continue to make your stuff private. And I do sometimes wonder – what the heck does he do with all that stuff? I mean, the whole site was originally created to get back at a girlfriend, wasn’t it? That doesn’t bode well. Thanks for adding your thoughts.
OH! I did not know THAT! Imagine that, created as payback… wow.
I remember feeling really creeped out when I bought a new phone a couple years ago, and when I looked at my contact list, it included pictures of people (that I hadn’t put in there) and phone numbers for people who’d never given me their number. It had imported all that from Facebook.
I have a personal FB, a blog FB, a twitter, an abandoned pinterest, and an unpopular tumblr. I can never decide where to post anything.
I get you there! I tried getting on twitter again (as Alice) and I somehow set up two accounts. I think? I have no idea what the hell is going on.
And that is creepy. I wonder if it would still do it if you deactivated your account?
Try Twitter first. You can still have a guard up with it and experiment with having blogger buddies.
Yeah, I just got back on but like i said in above comment, I somehow made two accounts – or I think I did? I am really not sure because I set one up at work during break and then when I got home none of the people I’d followed before were there and the password was slightly different. WTF did I do? Technology is clearly too much for Alice.
Delete and repeat.
I keep my real name Facebook account separate from my blog, and though it’s tempting to add my blogging buddies to FB, I’m not planning to ever do that. With what I write, there is a very real chance I will offend someone who is in a position to decide my employment, and since there’s probably no one else in the country with the same name as mine, so I can’t even use “that’s just a common name” excuse.
I’d much rather meet a blogger in person if the opportunity arises.
I thinking more and more that’s a good idea as well. I know some of my stuff could definitely offend (for instance, I once used the names of Republican wackos as curse words in a review for the idiotic soft porn 50 Shades.) My name is a little more common, but still. I think it would be very cool to meet some bloggers in person, but I don’t think I live very close to any.
Damn those privacy-loving bloggers who never say where they live.
Yes, you also have some stuff that could offend too – what if your manager turns out to be a Dragon Tales fan?
Oh, yeah, that would be bad in more ways than one. When I was taking online library classes I told one lady that computer filters were censorship even if the only way she could get computers for her library was through a federal program that forced libraries to filter (yes, still in effect even thought the ALA sued.). She was slightly pissed off at me, which was fine, till I realized she was my roommate for the upcoming library conference.
Whoops.
Becca of 25toFly fame is organising a blogger meet up in Austin, Texas, if that’s any help…
LOL, this is awesome! As a squirrel myself, I would totally jerk around Sad Pony by singing Wildfire too! And I was just thinking of booking a trip to Thailand, what were the odds….?
And this squirrel does not do the F-word or the T-word. WP is as social as I get….
Wait, what’s the T-word? Is there a wordy-dird I don’t know?
LOL! I was referring to those dirty social media network words! The F-word is not even what it seems!