So yesterday was Quit Facebook Day, and it was, apparently, a big fat bust — 34,000 people hit the proverbial road. And, according to our own survey, only 2,645 readers packed up their profile pics and galloped off into the digital sunset — including parody rapper SeanieMic.

This little vid about kicking Facebook to the curb is actually pretty entertaining — the fake status updates, ads and other FB ephemera really amp up the entertainment factor (not to mention the Mashable shoutout).

So whether you nixed the newsfeed or still persist in cherishing your shareable shackles, take a moment to laugh at the uproar. Oh, and Seanie actually has a totally legit point: Duckface is never OK.

Tags: facebook, humor, music, viral video

Facebook, by its nature, begs the question of why humans have a need to share information with others.  We have all, as we used the service, broadcast messages out to a larger audience than we’re used to.  Either by posting a presumably funny comment or a longer post about some good news in your life.

We also find it important to keep some of our basic information intact on the site, as Facebook represents our virtual self.  That means breaking up with a longtime girlfriend is no longer the situation it once was.  Whereas the news would trickle out through word of mouth to friends, now the news gets posted on your wall, and is available for everyone to see.  Surely, some users forget to ‘remove’ it, even when they don’t want to broadcast it, and it’s left there on a person’s wall as an awkward, painful reminder of their recent emotional turmoil.

Don’t click like on that post.

2) Your Own Post

It is pretty lame to like your own post.  It just looks funny, and is pretty embarassing when it’s just you that has liked the post.  Well, now that I think about it, if you really feel like showing everyone that your funny comment is worth even more than the time you so obviously put into writing it, then click like on your own hilarious joke.  In this situation, the joke itself becomes less important, as the real joke becomes how you’ve demonstrated yourself to be at a level of insecurity so high that you’re now reaffirming yourself on Facebook.

Yeah, so unless you’re a level three joker whose friends understand your self-liking as an act of parody, don’t like your own posts!

3) Farmville Anything

The last thing we need is an army of people liking random Farmville posts for free cows and barn doors.  As if there isn’t enough Farmville going around, for some reason this new generation of gamers has become so obsessed with the game that they feel the need to just quickly tap ‘like’ on any Farmville post they see.  What magic sauce did Zynga put into this friggin’ game?  It’s not even a new concept.  When I see the amount of fandom this game gets, I’m always blown away, so I’m here to say a few things.  You already play the game, you already pay Zynga for virtual pig troughs… You don’t need to click like on other people’s Farmville news feed items!

Just joking Zynga!

4) Friend Request Acceptances

If your high school friend just made friends with one of your elementary school friends, and you’re living 2,000 miles away and haven’t talked to either in years, refrain from being overcome with a sudden blast of nostalgia or you’ll end up “liking” their new friendship.  And in your rose-colored haze you might miss the fact that you liking that relationship is as creepy as Jack Nicholson popping his head into a smashed up door in the shining.  That’s what it will feel like to them, because you just popped your presence into a situation where you are effectively very creepy.  I think Facebook is a place where people can easily become creepy and have no idea, so keep this in mind next time you “like” a random post.

5) Rest In Peace Comments

I’ve found that some people also find peace in letting the world know about their deceased friends or relatives.  I can understand that this helps people pay homage to a person they had respect for, and I respect that as well.

However, the nature of the “like” button means that it’s just not an option to show your own respect to them using the button.  I’ve seen many Rest In Peace comments, and not a single person has clicked “like” yet, so it seems that we all understand that button and that click can only be misconstrued.  That said, have you ever seen anybody press it?

The Internet loves a good trickster (remember the Fresh Prince of Bel-Air rap dude?), so it’s no surprise that vids of “K-Strass,” a purported yo-yo champ, duping local news hosts have rapidly gone viral.

In these videos, K-Strass visits local news stations in order to bust out his skills and shill for ZimZam Yo-Yos, “a non-profit toy making organization dedicated to educating children about the environment,” according to the Facebook page.

Then, horror of horrors, the hapless local host discovers that homeboy cannot, in fact, yo-yo. Like, at all.

This mysterious character has quickly been dubbed a yo-yoing Andy Kaufman, which may explain his most recent tweet (that’s right he has a Twitter — dude is going all out with this joke).

Here’s hoping it’s not just some huge, obnoxious marketing scheme. While you’re biting your fingers in anticipation, check out his most famous performance below.

[via JSOnline]

Tags: facebook, humor, twitter, viral video, youtube

Not content with the glorious victory that was Betty White hosting Saturday Night Live, the denizens of Facebook have now turned their eyes to still more lofty goals: the Emmys and the Oscars.

As of right now, “Getting Betty White to Host the Academy Awards” is the most popular page, with 53,023 members at the time of posting. Then there’s “Betty White to Host the Oscars,” with 12,600 members. Both pages appear to be fan labors of love, much like “Betty White to Host SNL (please?)!”, and they’re already garnering copious amounts of media attention.

And then there’s “Betty White Must Host 2010 Emmys!”, which was launched by blogger Abe Gurko and has a little more than 2,000 fans. Gurko told us his reasoning for nominating the Golden Girls star: “I think that the Emmy awards shows over the years have been horrible. Bad writing, coupled with bad timing by the hosts. As these award shows have decreased in ratings, who better to put on hosting — or even co-hosting duties with Jimmy Fallon — than Betty. To give the show a much needed boost. Betty IS television.”

Just a few days ago, the Los Angeles Times covered this trend, pronouncing in the headline: Hipster Culture is Having a Senior Moment. While I would assert that the affinity for elderly stars etc goes far beyond the “hipster” set, I would agree that older folk — and especially White — are, indeed, becoming what amounts to an Internet meme.

Fans are enjoying the power they have come to wield, even when striving for goals that initially seem rather lofty (like having an older, less culturally relevant star host a major awards show). See also: Can This Onion Ring Get More Fans Than Justin Bieber?

Sure, White does have legit fans who want to see her succeed (Gurko and Co. seem extremely sincere), and, yes, she kicked serious ass on SNL last weekend, but, in the end, getting behind Betty seems like it’s becoming a bit of a trend.

It remains to be seen how effective campaigns like this will be as more and more continue to launch.

Tags: facebook, humor, pop culture, television

This week was positively schizophrenic when it comes to social media news: web coverage of major news events, Google search’s makeover, Twitter innovations, Facebook privacy gaffes, Apple-centric controversy and, of course, the Webbys.

If you’re still reeling from yesterday’s market madness and have subsequently forgotten everything you learned over the past seven days, never fear — Mashable has a list of the top 12 social media and tech stories of the week.

1. Google Search Gets a Major Overhaul – After months of testing and speculation, Google is finally releasing the next edition of Google search to the public, complete with a left-hand menu bar and even an update to the well-known Google logo.

2. Facebook Chat Down for Maintenance Following Privacy Lapse – The feature was presumably disabled following a report that exposed a Facebook security bug that allowed users to access and view friends’ live chats, friend requests and friends in common.

3. iPad Coming to Nine More Countries on May 28 – Residents of Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Spain, Switzerland and the UK, rejoice: The iPad will be available in your country on May 28.

4. Google Adds App Store for Analytics – Google is giving users even more tools for finding and understanding their website’s visitor stats. The company has just announced they’re opening a full App Gallery for Google Analytics.

5. Twitter to Launch Embeddable Tweets – Screenshots of tweets begone — you can now embed individual tweets on your website. There’s still some bugs, though.

6. Mashable Wins 3 Webby Awards – Mashable is honored to have won three Webby Awards in the categories Best Cultural Blog (Webby Award) and Best Business Blog (Webby Award and People’s Voice). We’re thankful to all the readers who voted for us.

7. Chrome Gains, IE Slumps in Browser Wars – Google Chrome was the fastest growing web browser for the fifth month in a row in analytics company Net Applications’ April market report, while Microsoft Internet Explorer again lost market share.

8. More Fallout at Digg: 10% of Staff Laid Off – Social news site Digg has just laid off 10% of its staff according to a representative from the company. The move comes a month after Jay Adelson’s sudden departure as CEO, in which he was replaced by company founder Kevin Rose.

9. Greece Riots as Seen on Twitter, YouTube – As riots explode in Greece, pictures and videos are flying around the social web, shared from news sources and folks on the ground.

10. Nashville Flooding: Twitter and YouTube Tell the Story – Nashville and other parts of Tennessee were hit by the region’s greatest rainfall in recorded history this weekend, resulting in a severe flood that has devastated the region and even swept away buildings and cars.

11. Apple Has Sold 1 Million iPads – Apple has officially confirmed it has sold 1 million iPads. The company sold its one millionth iPad on Friday, April 30, just 28 days after the device’s release.

12. Apple Isn’t Laughing at Ellen’s iPhone Commercial Parody – After airing a send-up of an iPhone commercial on Monday’s Ellen DeGeneres Show, the comedienne apologized for the parody at the behest of, well, Apple.

Tags: apple, facebook, Google, humor, ipad, iphone, television, trending, twitter, webbys-2010, youtube

In a report given to the National Post, Matt Hartley, the creator of the group, explained how he created it as a joke after the Canadian Prime Minister threatened to oust the current Governor General. His project quickly grew to over 30,000 supporters and the story has been on two Canadian television networks, several radio stations and BBC Scotland. Matt is a technology reporter for the NP, and found it awesome to see the virality explode. He was able to view popularity by geography, and that was really enlightening for him.

Check out Matt’s account of the growth of his page, and also his analysis of the power of viral media in today’s political culture. He writes an excellent piece and it’s worth a read. Oh, and join the group

Tobuscus also released other parody videos based on social games, both which are hilarious and are linked here. Click here for the Farmville Parody Commercial and here for the Mafia Wars Parody Commercial.

• Pirate Fighter
• Mobster Rivals
• Castle World Tour
• Mafia Warrior
• Yo Extreme
• Hero Society
• Island Rivals
• Happy Rivals

My personal favourites are Yo Extreme and Happy Rivals.  I’m sure these will be in the top ten soon. Check out the image below and click here to play the game. I must note that it’s ironic that THIS application isn’t even on Facebook. Also, check out our post on another parody game, Progress Wars, here.

If the petition is successful, the SI (International System of Units) would be the standards body that makes it official. The largest current prefix is “yotta” and represents 10^24 (”1″ followed by 24 zeros). As in, “my movie library takes up 8 YottaBytes.” The proposed Hella- prefix would be 1,000 times Yotta-. Wow, that’s a whole lotta love bytes (apologies to Led Zeppelin).

If the SI approves “Hella-” as a numeric prefix, you just might one day hear someone say something like, “My new Space Cadets smartphone has 16 HellaBytes of storage space. I can digitize my dog and reconstruct him on the Mars station.” But with only a tad over 31,000 fans (at the time of this writing), the idea still needs traction. Check out the Hella Facebook Page if you want to join the petition, or simply check out some of the amusing comments.

I look forward to the day when my hard drive has 16 HellaBytes of space — or whatever it’s called.