The fastest growing group on Facebook is the 35-54 set, which can lead to sticky situations with real consequences for many people. Therefore, who you friend is as important as who you don’t. As an example, a survey out this week found that 56% of people believe it’s irresponsible to friend your boss on Facebook. Seems there are more categories to be considered as well. So, here’s our common sense list of “To Friend, or Not to Friend.”
Should you friend…
…your boss? As the survey lends us to believe, it’s probably a bad idea. Not only are you possibly exposing awkward photos, status updates, and Wall posts, but your boss can actually SEE if you’re on Facebook at any given time. (The “Friends Online” feature reveals who is logged into the site.) Unless you plan to do all your Facebooking after hours (ha!), then let the boss actually think you’re working. Also, it’s hard to claim a “sick” day when you post photos of your impromptu trip to Six Flags the next day.
…your parents? This is tricky. It really depends on your parents. Are they the judgmental type? Do they disapprove of your lifestyle, job, or friends? If they’re the easy-going, we-love-you-just-the-way-you-are parents, then you’re probably safe. However, you don’t want to become the black sheep over your online revelations. Plus, if you connect to your folks, you might learn more than YOU want to know. (Be prepared for a barrage of Farmville.)
…your kids? As we just talked about, you might learn more than you want to know. Are you invading your child’s internet privacy? Or, are you just trying to stay more connected? If it’s the later, that is certainly a noble reason. Just don’t expect them to appreciate it. More than likely, you’ll just embarrass them.
…your ex? Before you try to maintain a friendship (albeit an online one) with an ex, ask yourself if you’re ready to hear about his or her new relationships. If you can handle seeing vacation pictures of he and his new girlfriend in Bermuda, then it’s probably OK to be Facebook friends. But, if hearing about how happy he or she is without you sends you over the edge, it’s not worth it. Also, if you friend an ex just to keep tabs on him or her “just in case” (or worse, for some revenge plot), then that’s just wrong.
…randoms? If you can’t remember the person from high school, then why stay connected to them on Facebook? Ditto for a friend of a friend, or someone who was blindly suggested by Facebook. Yes, you can hide friends from your News Feed. But, if you friend someone knowing that you’re just going to hide them, why friend them in the first place?
Facebook isn’t just about collecting as many friends as you can. It should be about interacting with a network of people you’re interested in. Don’t let the friend requests bog you down. When in doubt, IGNORE!
Here are some of our favorite brief Web stories from this week.
Some people had common sense.
Time Magazine did a profile on They Might Be Giants‘ kids album called Here Comes Science. Glad to see a great band getting some props. Kids need smart music!
Too broke to fly home for Uncle George’s funeral? No problem. Some funeral homes now begin to stream funerals live on the Web.
A Texas family cut their grocery bill in half by planning their meals a year in advance. A lot of work, I’m sure, but knowing what you need to buy down the road allows you to wait until it goes on sale, etc.
And, some did not.
A TSA agent planted fake drugs on a traveler as a gag. Nice, huh? Agent no longer employed by TSA.
A New Hampshire man called the cops to complain that he paid for sex and did not receive it. Clearly not a student of the law. He and the woman were both arrested (shocker!).
Detroit shoplifters ran over and killed the Kmart employee trying to stop them. Now they face armed robbery and homicide charges. The shoplifters were making off with $400 of CDs. That’s worth going to jail for, don’t you think?
PETA finds ridiculous ways to grab headlines. “No publicity stunt too low” should be the group’s motto. In true form, PETA members have taken their nonsense to an elementary school in Florida. In protesting the pending arrival of the circus, PETA arranged for a person in a bloody elephant costume to walk around at the end of the school day. Yes, an elephant with a bloody ear. Not surprisingly, the article says the elephant wasn’t a big hit with the kids. (You think?)
PETA’s issue is the treatment of circus elephants, which Ringling Brothers denies:
“We have never been found in violation of the Animal Welfare Act, which overseas the care and treatment of animals including, the Asian elephant.”
Really, PETA? Is traumatizing the children who might attend the circus the best way to accomplish your goal?
This story lacks common sense in so many areas that it’s hard to know where to begin.
A Connecticut mother left her two small kids in the car while she ran an errand. Big deal, right? Well, what if I told you it was in freezing conditions and the car was off? Bad. Really bad. Has this woman never heard of frostbite or hypothermia?
We can assume she left her 3-year old and a 1-year old to freeze their buns off in the car while going on a SUPER, IMPORTANT errand. Perhaps picking something up at the store, dropping of a letter at the Post Office, paying a bill, or maybe bringing peace to the Middle East.
Nope. She had to go sit in a tanning bed. Yep, getting a fake tan was that important.
How stupid do you need to be in order to shoot bullets into the air for fun? Even if you’ve never heard of Newton or his Law of Gravity, you know if you throw an orange in the air that it will fall back down to the ground. Well, shockingly, bullets work just like oranges. If they go up, they eventually come down. And sometimes innocent people get hurt.
This past NYE in Atlanta, a 4-year old boy was killed at 12:30 AM while sitting in church with his mother. (The fact that a 4-year old was out at 12:30 AM and not home in bed is surely the topic of an upcoming DDOCS post, but I digress….) A gun (likely an AK-47 rifle) had been fired into the air within a 3-mile radius of the church and the boy was a tragic casualty.
Sadly, this incident is not the only example of stray bullets falling from the sky and doing harm. You have to wonder what these shooters are thinking. Do they believe that the bullets will disappear? Or, perhaps be absorbed in the clouds like in a Bugs Bunny cartoon?
I learned about gravity as a kid, mostly through this video. (Another reason why taking Schoolhouse Rock off the air has made future generations less smart.)
Some residents of Big Spring, Texas didn’t appreciate one man’s holiday decorations. The man has a statue of Michelangelo’s David in his front lawn. For laughs and holiday cheer, he dressed David up in a Santa hat and beard, which caused some parents to complain. They claim their kids were asking “Why is Santa naked?”
After complaints, the homeowner covered the statue’s bait and tackle with boxer shorts, which you can see here in this photo.
Parents can’t explain to kids that it’s not really Santa and that it’s a replica of a famous statue? Come on, people! Lighten up.
You know, living in a place called BIG SPRING, these townspeople should have appreciated the joke.
Not everyone relishes the quality family time provided by the holidays. If you dread the upcoming moments with your kin like a Michael Jackson seance, here are some tips to get through it all in one sane piece.
At family gatherings, don’t talk about:
religion
politics
the lack of seasoning in the food
your lesbian experiment in college
the inheritance
More tips:
Don’t expect to share a bedroom with your boyfriend/girlfriend if your hosts are conservative in this area. Just accept that you’re sleeping apart for a few days in exchange for some free grub. Better yet, offer to stay in a hotel nearby.
Just smile and nod any time your mother picks on comments on your _________________ (insert most sensitive topic here). Because she WILL mention it.
Make sure to keep taking your medication. Whether it’s Prozac, Ambien, Johnny Walker or chocolate cake, don’t try to go cold turkey around Turkey Day.
Pack a bag with snacks. That way, if you don’t like the food, you can sneak away for a Snickers bar later.
Here are some of our favorite brief Web stories from this week.
Some people had common sense.
A University of Minnesota professor uses superheroes to teach physics. I never understood physics, but maybe I would have if it had been this exciting.
There were some big changes in women’s health this week. Recommendations for mammograms and pap smears were adjusted and women everywhere were confused. We thought this write-up from NBC’s Dr. Nancy Snyderman did a nice job of putting it all into perspective.
Over privacy concerns, the Grinches at the USPS called a halt to the “Dear Santa” letter program with the residents of North Pole, Alaska this week. But, according to one of the Alaska Senators on Friday, the USPS has agreed to resume the program. Some new security measures will be put in place, and Santa’s letters will continue to be opened and responded to by the Alaskan volunteers. Childhood everywhere rejoices!
And, some did not.
A North Carolina dad packed McDonald’s for his eighth-grade daughter’s lunch in a brown paper bag, and she ended up suspended. My dad used to pack me HoHos, Hostess Fruit Pies, or Hostess Cupcakes in my lunch. Would I be kicked out of school now?
Kate Moss, a well-known waif model, has become the poster girl for other girls who are trying not to eat. Moss recently said, “nothing tastes as good as skinny feels.” Girls aspiring to be super (dangerously) thin now use this quote on their own web sites as inspiration not to eat. NOT TO EAT. Someone should slap Moss upside the head with a double Quarter Pounder with Cheese for this comment. (To be fair, the model’s rep says the line was taken out of context. Sure, it was.)
But, worthy of getting suspended from school? Not even close.
This boy was suspended from a Cincinnati middle school because the school deemed the haircut as violating its “extreme and distracting hairstyles” code. The student is a Bengals fan and wanted to show his team spirit.
What kind of world are we living in where we refuse children the right to have any hairstyle or haircut they want? I had a mullet in middle school. For SURE that look should have been banned somehow. (I still have to live with the photos to this day.) Perhaps the school should realize that the future shame will be enough punishment for this haircut.
Daily Dose of Common Sense cuts through the crap, hype, and pseudoscience to tell it like it is. Part science, part news, and part, er, common sense, this site may be harsh sometimes but it's just tough love.
The fastest growing group on Facebook is the 35-54 set, which can lead to sticky situations with real consequences for many people. Therefore, who you friend is as important as who you don’t. As an example, a survey out this week found that 56% of people believe it’s irresponsible to friend your boss on Facebook. Seems there are more categories to be considered as well. So, here’s our common sense list of “To Friend, or Not to Friend.”
More tips:
Stupid haircut? Yes, for sure.
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