It’s bound to happen when Facebook’s template starts to be used for different things other than what it was designed for. The “Tag Photo” feature is a great addition to Facebook, even though it allows friends to see pictures of me that are not so flattering (like high school pics). Users can remove a tag from a photo so others don’t see the picture directly from your profile, but I don’t mind, especially since someone else took the time and effort to post it already.
The disconnect with the technology began a couple months ago when many started using the Notes section to write “25 Random Things About Me”. While it’s a great use of the application, users would tag up to 25 of their friends that were mentioned in the story. When I was first tagged by a friend, I was expecting to read something about me, but that was not the case. The writer used the tag feature as a way of letting me know they wrote something and wanted a few extra eyeballs. At first it was hard to figure out, but once the idea started viraling out, there was a general understanding of why people were tagged. If you want to read my “25 Random Things About Me” on my Facebook page, click here.
Now comes the NEXT idea…tagging someone in a photo, but you’re not in the photo. The intention again is to bring awareness as a fun game you can play with different search web sites that produce unique results for everyone who takes time doing it. Here are the instructions:
1. Go to Wikipedia. Hit “random”
or click http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:Random
The first random Wikipedia article you get is the name of your band.
2. Go to Quotations Page and select “random quotations”
or click http://www.quotationspage.com/random.php3
The last four or five words of the very last quote on the page is the title of your first album.
3. Go to Flickr and click on “explore the last seven days”
or click http://www.flickr.com/explore/interesting/7days
Third picture, no matter what it is, will be your album cover.
4. Use Photoshop, Paint, or similar to put it all together.
5. Post it to FB with this text in the “caption” or “comment” and TAG the friends you want to join in.
My results:
I thought it was a fun idea/experiment, but it doesn’t belong on Facebook. I don’t know how long this trend will last, but it takes effort to undo something that shouldn’t be an issue on Facebook to begin with. If people want to do this, why not build an application that does it, instead of using the formatting of Facebook? There are 100+ applications being created everyday on Facebook…surely someone can make this one work.
