Besides the associated fun and laughter, the occasional signing for causes and a space to gather instant sympathy and support on petty issues of life, social networking platforms also help us label our friends.
Even as we sigh in relief at the end of the Farmville and Candycrush craze, we can be sure there is already some new game notification alertfrom some of our friends.
Then there are different kinds of Whatsapp users. Who wouldn’t have noticed the silent ones who occasionally crop up for a ‘hi.’ Then there are a few who only read messages but do not respond (a common feature in the groups). Long long ago, there were a few who threatened dire consequences on on ‘not forwarding’ God’s word. The result was a meme which shows a gravestone with the line ‘died from not forwarding’ engraved on it.
Here are a few broad categories our net friends could fall into.
The wishers : It is almost like their phones are programmed to wish appropriately according to the time of the day. Without missing a moment, the good morning, good afternoon, good evening and good nights pop up making sure you know the time of the day, sometimes in words and sometimes with a bouquet of flowers or a scenery. These friends will see to it that you are not alone. A meme calls this breed, ‘the roosters.’
The cause fighters : No matter how silent they are, they are among the first to send forwards to sign petitions. At times it is about why the Whatsapp feature should come for free but most of the times it is also about why we should eat less meat, do more workouts and most commonly about saving a random island of which we have never heard about.
It is about business : Silence is golden, but then when it comes to promoting their stuff, no matter how substandard they are, these silent ones become the most active. In fact they are in groups with a mission, to promote their wares because eventually someone will buy out of courtesy.
The joke forwards : We all love them. Because the jokes don’t just make your day but also give you a break from the everyday routine.
The mothers : No matter whether the child is the apple or orange of their eyes, these moms make sure their child’s ‘cuteness’ is appreciated by all. If you haven’t come across a mom who’s child is participating in a cute baby contest consider yourself lucky.
In the name of God : Festivals can scare the day out of your life. How? Gifss, photos of Gods and deities, videos of a prayer in progress and what not. If your phone’s download feature isn’t customised, then you could spend almost half a day just deleting these forwards.
Like and comment beggars : This breed can annoy one to a point of blocking them. Imagine getting messages like ‘Like my photo’ or ‘write a nice comment’ when you are in the midst of a meeting with your boss on your appraisal. Could make you want to pull your hair, right?.
The narcissist : We all love our photos, and make sure we have the best as our profile picture, but then when the caption says ‘yummy food’ who wants to see the chef’s biceps or his chest over a tight shirt?
The writers : Irrespective of the cause or the state of mind, some updates can be so long that, one has to go pay a lot of attention while on Facebook. Something like preparing for an exam. Could be a ‘tough read.’
The cribbers : Whether it is the state or national politics or spotting a blooper on a newspaper or magazine, the cribbers crib to a point of making readers, ‘roll their eyes.’ And when the likes aren’t going up, they go on to tag people, annoying them no end.
