How annoying are you, Facebook friend? ~ Brand Mix

Monday, March 2, 2009

How annoying are you, Facebook friend?

Photo: Jason Tester (Flickr)

Peter Hartlaub, the San Francisco Chronicle's Pop Culture Critic, just joined Facebook. He's a little late to the party but he's made up for it by coming out with a list of nine friend stereotypes and given each an "Annoyance Factor" score. His original list has now been supplemented by reader suggestions. Some of the friend types that resonated with me (but which, of course, don't apply to me or any of my friends) are:

The TMI: The friend who wants to share every piece of information about "his seemingly pointless life: John Doe is tired of working ... John Doe is going to the grocery store to get some kiwis ... John Doe just cleaned the bathroom. On to the kitchen!" Annoyance Factor : 100

The Friend Addict: "This is the Facebook equivalent of one of those crazy ladies who gets declared a public nuisance because she has too many cats in her home. Even though this Facebooker only knows 47 people, he/she managed to accumulate 786 friends - mostly by going through other people's profiles and friending perfect strangers." Annoyance Factor: 28

The Compulsive Gifter: "Every day, they find yet a new way to send cyber-tchotchkes to all their friends. Look on the bright side, though - at least you don't have to dust the Grateful Dead Bears or Hatching Eggs."

The Tweeter: "who has her twitter updates tied to her Facebook status. Her friends face an incessant barrage of cryptic microblogs. The 140-character tweet limit is the only thing that keeps her annoyance factor below 50."

The I Work Out More Than You: ""Stephie just got back from yoga" "Stephie just got back from running" "Stephie just got back from salsa" "Stephie just got back from salsa and yoga and is tired" "Stephie just got back doing salsa, yoga and running." Annoyance factor 100, unfriend."

The Always Tired and Busy: "According to their constant status updates, this friend is constantly tired and/or busy. But so is pretty much everyone. Annoyance factor: 100"

As marketers, is there anything else can we do with this insight over and above reading it for entertainment?

3 comments:

Jeffry Pilcher said...

I found Facebook entirely annoying. I closed my page.

I'm not sure Facebook is a marketer's playground. For now, there are other, more productive corners in the web for marketers.

Anonymous said...

I couldn't agree more! Although grouped in with the "gifter" is the "faux philanthropist". These are the people who think that just by getting 100 people to join the "help autism" facebook cause, it will somehow solve a research or budget funding problem. And don't get me started on the quizzes and applications! These are the reasons I deleted my myspace account... Glittery birthday and holiday greetings are just around the corner! uggh

zyzzyva said...

You forgot "the vampire/wearwolf/zombie/pirate/ninja".

 
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