One of my first tweets this morning was:
“People who hash tag on FB make me want to poke them in the eye.”
You know, just a usual Wednesday morning tweet lacking in opinion or offence.
But, how stupid of me to tweet something so out of date! (By about 12 hours I think)
Newsflash people, you can use the hash tag on Facebook. I know… life as we know it is over.
No longer can we look down on our Facebook “friends” ( or “acquaintances” if you have been brave enough to categorise them) with disdain as they update their status with “Gonna get ma bikini on #sun #sexi #Icecreme #cantspell”
No longer can we shout at the screen “Why are you using the hash tag on Facebook you cretin?” .
No longer can we laugh smugly when they leave a space between words and mutter “have they ever even been on twitter?”
No, that is over, as once more Facebook has put its dirty fingers in everyone else’s pie. Just look what happened to Instagram when it got hold of that? I said INST- A-GRAM – with the pictures, and the filters? Oh forget it.
But this post isn’t just about Facebook bashing, because that would make me look a little stupid. And I don’t need to write a blog to look stupid. I can just leave the house with my skirt on inside out (and I did that this morning).
If Facebook was that bad I would have come off it years ago and I haven’t. The main reason being it is so bloody convenient. As a source of information for things like local events, what your child needs to take on a school trip and whether or not you’ve missed a friend’s birthday, FB is worth its weight in gold. And, I suppose, wedding season is a pretty special time too. So yeah I’m on Facebook, and there are times I quite like it.
But I like Twitter too, well I sort of love it. I like its anonymity. its freshness and how everything is so temporary. Yes it has its flaws, they mainly come in a troll or celebrity shape. but as a whole it works. And personally, I think its success lies in the simplicity. Over complicating Twitter would be its downfall. Besides, the hash tag is complicated enough – right Facebookers?
I like the choice in social networks, I like there is variety (that’s why Pinterest is there right – for variety? Otherwise I am stumped on its purpose) and I like my social network sites to be different. I like using them for different things. Like chocolate. If I fancy something moreish and light I’ll grab a packet of Maltesers if I want something filling and chewy I’ll get a snickers. but don’t try and merge the two, that would just be kind of… clunky?
This is why think I Facebook should stick to what its good at. Connecting local people and people who haven’t spoke to for years and years. That’s its niche.
Let Twitter keep you up to date with the here and now, the moment, the trends, the news and the opinions.
And let’s not force everything to be the same. Different is good. We like different.
And the whole copying thing? Well its all a bit try-hard isn’t it? Like the kid at school that gets a ”Beiber” hair cut 2 months too late.
I know, social networks are not timeless, just look what happened to MySpace, so they need to reinvent themselves. Imagine if we still had to start every FB update with the word “is”?
It’s ok, breathe, they are not bringing it back, that level of social network restraint is long gone.
But just imagine if we were still stuck with that “is”? Or worse, Imagine if twitter nicked the “is”?
Frances is fucked off that Facebook has nicked twitter’s hash tag
So of course, there comes a time when all social networks need to reinvent. And I welcome it – when it’s fresh and clever and it makes my life (well internet life) easier. But what I can’t stand is when things get clunky or the big brains are being lazy, and I just feel Facebook adopting the hash tag is both.
I haven’t used the hash tag on Facebook yet, but I rarely update on there, so doubt I will. But the thought of it does feel wrong, kind of like swearing on Facebook, it’s only a certain sort who can get away with it. The rest of us just appear crude or inappropriate.
Having said that, I don’t think I would feel like I am cheating on Twitter, but it certainly does feel like Facebook is.
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