Recently seen on a friend’s Facebook wall:

AAAAAARRRGH! It makes me want to break something.

I don’t know why but I expect more from Facebook users than say, MySpace or Bebo users. Maybe it’s because Facebook started as an academic network site; or maybe it’s because of articles such as this from the BBC or blog posts making statements such as Facebookers are voters, MySpacers are not. Maybe it’s because I’m hopelessly addicted to Facebook and don’t want it to become representative of that which I loath - like Pete Doherty telling people that crack isn’t that bad, it’s just the press blowing things out of proportion.

You may have noticed that the name and picture in the screengrab above have been scrambled to protect the not-so-innocent. However if you recognise this from your wall, you should have a word with your friend and point out the error of his ways. As Dan alluded to, I guess most of us have friends who use “txt spk” or it’s more hardcore cousin, “L33t speak” when texting, emailing and social-network-site-ing (someone really needs to come up with a snappy, generic verb for that).

When one has a friend who is a persistent offender, it can be tempting to ignore the infractions. For much the same reasons I try my best to ignore the massive mole on the side of a particular mate’s face. The difference being, short of surgery, my mate with the mole can’t do much about his affliction, whereas people who write, “gud 1 m8!!!” can and should be reformed.

I urge you all to attempt the same. Be persistent - no-one likes constantly being corrected, so either the friend will see the light or he/she will stop texting you. Either way, job done!

L8rz!!