Inspired by a Facebook post I saw earlier today I figured I’d write a little about something that has irked me for some time and continues to do so.
One of my 700+ friends on Facebook is a brilliant Pittsburgh blogger/writer who goes by the name Jane Pitt – aka Virginia Montanez (or is it the other way around?).
Virginia is remarkably web savvy and has a remarkable grasp for Social Media etiquette, whether she knows it or not. On her Facebook today, Virginia posted:
Dear facebook friends, if you are going to put a status message of “Sick of it” or “OMFG” or “EFF THIS,” causing a billion of your friends to comment, “What’s up” or “Are you okay?” YOUR JOB IS TO RESPOND TO THOSE FRIENDS. Otherwise, by ignoring them, you’re a vaguebooking drama-monger and that makes people stabby.
She’s right! vague Facebook statuses – vaguebooking – are horribly, exasperatingly, eye-rollingly, frustrating. They really do scream “hey! pay some attention to me!”
Vageubooking isn’t a term I was familiar with before today, though I could have told you the meaning outright. The Urban Dictionary defines “Vaguebooking” as:
An intentionally vague Facebook status update, that prompts friends to ask what’s going on, or is possibly a cry for help.
I’m sure we’ve all done it, either on Facebook, Twitter or MySpace (is MySpace still around?), maybe you’ve done it in real life. I know for a face that I’m going to be a little more aware of my status updates all-round now, making sure that I’m not too vague.
If anything you shouldn’t be vague in your status’ at all, cry for help or not, mostly because vague can be more easily misconstrued than anything else.
So, be authentic, just put it all out there and don’t cry for attention…. please.
Virginia Montanez’s “That’s Church” blog
Vaguebooking in the Urban Dictionary
[cb type=”company”]Facebook[/cb]
