Facebook's Highlighted Posts: A New Tool for Jerks

 Facebook's Highlighted Posts: A New Tool for Jerks

 

The funny thing is, I've never written an unwanted email in my life. And I know you haven't, either. Spam is sent by others: an unwanted advertisement, a friend request by someone I don't know, an urban legend that may or may not be true, a request for a family dinner, or an old friend who was recently married.

Um, hang on.

We've quickly arrived at the problem. Spam is subjective. While some spam is just flung out to the Internet at large - a "Buy Me!" message floated inside one of a hundred billion bottles washed up on the shore - other messages signify something more: a genuine effort to connect and enlighten.

So, how to tell the difference? As it turns out, Facebook is here to help. The social network is currently testing out a way to highlight Facebook posts, placing them on a yellow background and presumably maintaining prominent placement on your Timeline.

Frankly, I deserve to have every word I've ever written chiseled into stone for all eternity. I can tell you agree with me. And you, perceptive readers that you are, are deserving of the same privilege.

But it's the others who we need to do something about. Uncle Ted should not have the right to inflict upon us photos of his pet pug, dressed up as a Jawa. No, I do not care to hear how many shots my recently divorced college friend did last night. And what is Jason doing with - oh no no no.

"Facebook is already filled with what I like to call PPR – Personal Press Releases," Jill Duffy, our social analyst noted. "It hit home when my friend said, 'I'm telling you about the pregnancy now, because we're going to announce it on Facebook tomorrow.'" Exactly.

We live in an age of self-promotion. Not only can we pick and choose our own social medium, services like YouTube will actually pay you to create your own channel where you can natter on about whatever comes into your head. But we shouldn't be enabling this. Instead, can we at least make the effort to reward those who produce insightful, meaningful content?

Google+ at least tries to approach this with its "What's Hot" stream of posts. Unfortunately, "what's hot" usually equates to a funny picture with a pithy saying, with hundreds of approving "+1s" attached. The venerable Slashdot probably still does this best of all, with moderators able to vote comments up and down, instead of in just one direction.

Facebook badly needs a dose of creativity, something to let users inject a note of personality besides the bands they like and a few favorite photos. Pinterest and Diaspora are aligning themselves with this principle.

But I'm not sure a highlighted post takes Facebook in the right direction. If the Internet can agree on some general principles: using highlighted posts to announce births, deaths, marriages, emergencies, or witnessing an historical event, fine. Otherwise, HIGHLIGHTING POSTS IS SIMPLY ANOTHER WAY OF WRITING IN ALL CAPS. AFTER A WHILE, IT ALL BLURS TOGETHER. And what are we going to think of the dude who paid $2 to highlight the awesome craft brews he downed last night in the Haight?

Yep, just another Internet jerk.