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25 Random Things About Me
Dear Gravel Journal,What the heck is up with 25 Random Things on Facebook? I keep getting tagged by my female friends who want me to read them. I refuse to respond, or even read any of the random items. The name itself, "25 Random Things" is even irritating me. Before you read any of the "random" things, there is this paragraph:
Once you've been tagged, you are supposed to write a note with 25 random things, facts, habits, or goals about you. At the end, choose 25 people to be tagged. You have to tag the person who tagged you. If I tagged you, it's because I want to know more about you.
I don't like rules like that. And when someone has put in the effort to write 25 random things, and then took time to take me, I wonder if they are going to think I'm a jerk for not even reading.
My questions:
1. Do I have to then write a note with my own 25 random things?
2. Am I going to make someone feel bad for not reading theirs?
Thanks,
Gavin
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No Gavin, thank you.
Here is 1 random thing about me: I have no problem writing a question to myself in the form of a journal entry.
I've been thinking a lot about 25 Random Things About Me from Facebook recently. This NYT article explains it pretty well, if you aren't sure what "25 Random Things" is.
Time has an excellent article here about some of the annoying nuances of this feature, pointing out that 5 million of these notes were written last week. The author, Claire Suddath, refers to this as "viral narcissism", which is apropos given that people share completely boring and unfunny facts about themselves on these lists. Wouldn't 5 Random Things been a much better idea? Less fluff.
Salon.com points out that people really do write some insightful things here and there. But I don't want to put in the effort to read all that stuff to find a couple gems. The wonderful slate.com gets some science in there to talk about the parasitic nature of "25 random thing" and how it's evolved.
Now to your questions. You do not have to write your own list. You can just leave it alone because--and this answers your second question--with so many people tagged, nobody will notice that you haven't made a list. Just forget that you were tagged, and pretend that the lists don't exist at all. Wait for the really important "25 random" lists come out--maybe an ex-girlfriend publishes her list--then check it out to see if you are on it.
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