Warning: To all women who frequent bars and parties, now there is even more of a reason to watch your drinks. A new drug called Progesterex has been circulating along with Rohypnol, the date rape drug. It is slipped into the beverages of unsuspecting victims who are found the next day not only raped, but determined to be irreversibly sterile.
Does this caveat sound familiar? For those who compulsively visit thefacebook.com these words of caution may have appeared in a message forwarded by concerned friends. Upon further investigation, this "small sterilization pill," often used by veterinarians, was found to be nothing more than a hoax.
More accurately, it's spam. No matter what form it takes, or where it shows up, it remains undesirable. We don't want it mysteriously appearing on our plates, nor overwhelming our e-mail inboxes, and certainly not infiltrating thefacebook.com's messaging system.
A few weeks ago, after signing into thefacebook.com for the fifth time that day, (what if someone recently updated their profile?) I was thrilled to discover that I had several new messages.
Aside from receiving two copies of the Progesterex message from two unrelated friends from separate schools, there was one message lamenting the plight of helpless "Bonzai Kittens." Apparently some people are forcing kittens to suffocate in glass bottles until they decay, leaving behind the final product of their skeleton conformed to the shape of the bottle to be sold.
And yet another urged me to hop on board the "sexy train," officially declaring my status as a sexy person as long as I passed the message along to 10 other people - clearly I did, because who wants to run the risk of having bad sex for the next 30 years of their lives?
Instead of feeling popular, I was left feeling frustrated. I have never been a fan of receiving chain e-mail, always unwarranted, entirely too long, and usually sent by someone who I haven't even spoken with recently or maybe even forgot existed. Now I find myself fighting this losing battle on yet another front where I least expected it: thefacebook.com.
The root of this problem lies in the new added feature which enables mass messaging on thefacebook.com almost too easily. There are several options provided as well: you can choose to harass all your friends, annoy only friends at your school, or irritate just those friends at other schools.
Another creative way to aggravate fellow facebook users is to message all members of a group.
Although there are some practical and acceptable reasons to message multiple recipients, I don't want to be reminded that the "Hug a Blade of Grass Club" is having their weekly meeting twice every day until the date of the event.
And while it appears thoughtful to send a message wishing seasons greetings, it loses effectiveness when the person discovers they are but one on a listserv of hundreds of facebook friends because in truth, not much thought was involved except pointing and clicking.
Apparently Mark Zuckerberg, the creator of thefacebook.com, caught on to the abuse of this otherwise useful facet of communicating. Now written in bold red letters on top of the messaging options page is "Please don't send spam, chain mail, or anything else that your friends don't want to read." Clearly his plea for discretion has not been effective.
In the future, please bear in mind that etiquette applies in the virtual world as well. Use good judgment in determining what constitutes improper messaging. You don't want to be known as the bearer of trivial news, and trust me, an electronic chain message on a Web site created by a college undergrad will not determine your luck for the next few decades.
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