bebo sites and culture of self-promotion/celebration of mediocrity

tech77

Just looking at some bebo sites there yesterday.
All this unmitigated, unadulterated self-promotion and celebration of unremarkable, uninteresting lives.

I'm sure there are interesting bebo sites out there but it seems to be dominated mostly by an attitude of "look at me, i'm fcuking great even though i've nothing to show for it" no matter how unremarkable or inane the individual is.

Why the fcuk is every single last bit of mediocrity nowadays praised and celebrated like it's a true work of genius.
Nobody 'fails' at anything anymore it seems.
Everyone has to be happy (or seen to be at least).
Is all this apparent confidence real or is it just a facade.

Is there no room nowadays for a bit of constructive self-doubt, self-criticism, self-reflection and thoughtfulness/reservedness in speech and manner (before mouthing off one's ill-informed, uninteresting views).

Don't get me wrong, if something is worth celebrating, it should be celebrated. e.g talent, genius, wit, keen intellect, beauty etc.
But the whole meaning of celebration nowadays is devalued.

It also seems that the people who have the least to celebrate are doing all the celebrating and self-promotion.

I probably sound like a miserable old git- I'm not really.
I just don't buy the unrelenting self-promotion/celebration thing.
Am i missing something or do i just need to get with the program.

jawlie

Bebo, and such sites, are written by people about themselves, much like CV's. I think it might be a mistake to take them to literally as, with much of the net, it's quite a lot of smoke and mirrors.

Rb

Bebo is retarded.

Nalz

Cant stand these sites much myself. There good if you use them for uploading pics if your away from home on hols.... but people that are addicted to such sites and promote themselves (for no reason), dramatize their lives and broadcast every single personal thing about themselves really need their head checked.

A common thing companies do now is check out peoples bebo/facebook/hey look at me Im great websites in an attempt to find out exactly what their employees are like, especially when they are recruiting or hiring people.

Had a bebo site for 2 months or so when it first came out, soon saw the road people were taken it down. Despise it!

daniel3982

Trouble is though if you do show a bit of self reflection is justt makes you look like youre a self absorbed, depressive bassa on these things, its much better to wait for people to get to know the real you rather then putting it all on display wouldnt you say, you wouldnt meet someone in a bar and immediately tell them everything about you in the hope that they understand the real you deep inside would you. You'd tell them the interesting bits til you got to know them, Bebo is no different.

Slutmonkey57b

I think the point is that people with bebo pages are inherently uninteresting to start with.

Beruthiel

tech77 wrote:

I probably sound like a miserable old git- I'm not really.

Considering the kind of people it attracts, I really wouldn't worry.
Ignore and pretend it doesn't exist.

Orange69

rb_ie wrote:

Bebo is retarded.

+ infinity...

Bebo/myspace is the internet equivalent of big brother..

Dave!

Beruthiel wrote:

Considering the kind of people it attracts, I really wouldn't worry.
Ignore and pretend it doesn't exist.

What kind of people is that? Political parties? Musicians? Doctors? Military? Everyone?

Blowfish

tech77 wrote:

Just looking at some bebo sites there yesterday.
All this unmitigated, unadulterated self-promotion and celebration of unremarkable, uninteresting lives.

I'm sure there are interesting bebo sites out there but it seems to be dominated mostly by an attitude of "look at me, i'm fcuking great even though i've nothing to show for it" no matter how unremarkable or inane the individual is.

Why the fcuk is every single last bit of mediocrity nowadays praised and celebrated like it's a true work of genius.
Nobody 'fails' at anything anymore it seems.
Everyone has to be happy (or seen to be at least).
Is all this apparent confidence real or is it just a facade.

Is there no room nowadays for a bit of constructive self-doubt, self-criticism, self-reflection and thoughtfulness/reservedness in speech and manner (before mouthing off one's ill-informed, uninteresting views).

Don't get me wrong, if something is worth celebrating, it should be celebrated. e.g talent, genius, wit, keen intellect, beauty etc.
But the whole meaning of celebration nowadays is devalued.

It also seems that the people who have the least to celebrate are doing all the celebrating and self-promotion.

I probably sound like a miserable old git- I'm not really.
I just don't buy the unrelenting self-promotion/celebration thing.
Am i missing something or do i just need to get with the program.

Look at it from a positive angle. All of those idiotic self promoting people are attracted to bebo, and end up gathered together in one place rather than fecking up the rest of the internet. That can only be a good thing IMO.

lezizi

I was all against bebo when it started but when my friend went travelling I got a page. Im no good at keeping in contact with people I never phone or txt people, so this way i can just leave a comment on a friends page without having to listen to them giving out to me about not staying in contact.
I have friends on it that just put up pics of themselves posing in underwear just so random strangers will leave comments saying how sexy they are, I hate that, perfectly normal people who turn into wannabie page 3 models the minute they got their page.
My page isnt on private because i dont mind people looking at it, I have a boring life so there is nothing interesting on it anyway.

jor el

DaveMcG wrote:

What kind of people is that?

Children, peados and morons.

I've never seen the point of bebo or myspace. It just seems to be a list of other people on bebo who link to you.

Occasionally it's used by a band or model to promote themselves, so it's effectively one big giant SPAM. Easy to avoid though.

Ber wrote:

Ignore and pretend it doesn't exist.

Exactly.

muppetkiller

Ah you're discussing how sad the users of bebo are on the boards.ie ?
A little Ironic don't ya think ? Sure there's no pictures here but there is a thread were people post their pics. I think if you look deeply enough you'll find every flaw you mention about bebo users on the boards ..

If you want self-promotion/celebration of mediocrity go to youtube or your newspapers...ultimate example of celebration of mediocrity is You're a Star , X Factor and GLENDA GILSON.

PS. I will agree Bebo is mainly aimed at the 15-20 age group so it can only be self-promotion/celebration of mediocrity seeing as the majority of these people haven't had a life yet to report on..

dodgyme

people used to go to the pub

prendy

I've never seen the point of bebo or myspace. It just seems to be a list of other people on bebo who link to you.

so you just go on boards.ie and moan about them?????

everyone to their own i say.
its seems such a popular reply on here that bebo/facebook etc is crap/waste of time.
for many people its a good means of stayin in contact with friends throughout the world.

mukki

dodgyme wrote:

people used to go to the pub

best boards.ie post ever!!!!


so simple and such a brilliant point


really made me think

thelordofcheese

tech77 wrote:

Nobody 'fails' at anything anymore it seems.

Not true, loads of people fail all the time. Infact the internet is made of 98% fail.

Aura

I caved and set up a bebo account to stay in touch with people at home while I was away traveling and had admittedly always scoffed at the hideous self-promotion and horrible adolescent competitiveness of it prior to that but I have to admit it served its purpose well and also since coming home it's been a great way to keep in touch with those I met whilst traveling. Some pages scare the bejaysus outta me though with professional photos etc. The mind boggles!!

kaimera

I wonder what people did to keep in touch prior to social networking sites...

is the 'electronic mail' thing I heard about still working or did that die?

Surely if one can post a reply on some poxy page they can email as well/instead or does the internet not support multi.tasking?

Oh, and no, I don't nor ever intend to have a SNS page.

Terry

muppetkiller wrote:

Ah you're discussing how sad the users of bebo are on the boards.ie ?
A little Ironic don't ya think ? Sure there's no pictures here but there is a thread were people post their pics. I think if you look deeply enough you'll find every flaw you mention about bebo users on the boards ..

If you want self-promotion/celebration of mediocrity go to youtube or your newspapers...ultimate example of celebration of mediocrity is You're a Star , X Factor and GLENDA GILSON.

PS. I will agree Bebo is mainly aimed at the 15-20 age group so it can only be self-promotion/celebration of mediocrity seeing as the majority of these people haven't had a life yet to report on..

I'm glad I'm not the only one to see the irony.

rb_ie wrote:

Bebo is retarded.

What is your take on people who use it?

Setun

Slutmonkey57b wrote:

I think the point is that people with bebo pages are inherently uninteresting to start with.

Ah nobody in ireland is truly interesting anyway.

The problem with bebo is not the people who have found an easy way to say hello to friends they don't get to see very often (what is wrong with that??) but the pageview whores and the teenybopper nudity. It turns into a popularity competition eg "I've got more pageviews, comments, luv ad nauseum ad infinitum..."

bobzi

I think all ye people slagging off bebo are just jealous because you couldnt get any bebo friends. Its a bit sad really

moco

I have a bebo page but there's not much on it really. I use it more to see what other people are getting up to and look at their photos etc.

About the girls in their underwear, that really does my head in! I was looking at some pages the other day where girls in their porn star poses spend what looks like most of their time protesting to people 'that really is me' 'why would I put up someone else's photo' and complaining that strangers won't stop leaving abusive comments on their page. One even went as far as to take more porn pictures of herself holding signs with her bebo name on it to prove the photos are really her. If it bothers you so much, make your page private! They just love the attention.:rolleyes:

MikeHoncho

I find it ironic that someone would post on a message board about self promotion. Surely there are people on here as guilty of self promotion. The difference with a message board is that you build up a second persona and promote that one.

Page views = posts. The more posts you have the more important you are percieved on the message board. Boards.ie is another form of social networking all be it an expresion of opinion rather than image. So the cool kids have Bebo accounts and promote how pretty they are and how they go to all the cool places and the nerds come here so that they can discuss topics they are interested in with likeminded people. Its all just a big ego stroking excercise.

I do have a bebo account which I use purely for keeping in touch with people and pillaging photos (I never bring a camera anywhere). I dont see the harm in it. But I do agree that the level that some of the younger users take it to is crazy. I have my profile set to private and the only people I want looking at it are my friends.

Terry

moco wrote:

I have a bebo page but there's not much on it really. I use it more to see what other people are getting up to and look at their photos etc.

MikeHoncho wrote:

I do have a bebo account which I use purely for keeping in touch with people and pillaging photos (I never bring a camera anywhere).

You both may be interested in this thread.
http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055143729

Tony Danza

I don't see why somebody thinks bebo is sad, it's a really good way of keeping in touch with people that you wouldn't have otherwise, you know people that your friendly with but aren't your best friends. Although when your looking around on bebo I noticed everyone's profile is a photo of them looking "crazy" and just going on about how they love getting drunk (not that I don't:D ), but it's all a bit old and unoriginal.

Pinker

Tony Danza wrote:

I don't see why somebody thinks bebo is sad, it's a really good way of keeping in touch with people that you wouldn't have otherwise, you know people that your friendly with but aren't your best friends. Although when your looking around on bebo I noticed everyone's profile is a photo of them looking "crazy" and just going on about how they love getting drunk (not that I don't:D ), but it's all a bit old and unoriginal.

Exactly, why is the OP so bothered by it, just don't go looking at it so?, which you obviously have. It's a free and easy way of keeping in touch, facebook is a slightly more mature version and is my preferred SNS, I really don't see the rant worthiness of Bebo

Setun

kaimera wrote:

I wonder what people did to keep in touch prior to social networking sites...

is the 'electronic mail' thing I heard about still working or did that die?

Surely if one can post a reply on some poxy page they can email as well/instead or does the internet not support multi.tasking?

Oh, and no, I don't nor ever intend to have a SNS page.

Bebo is a more attractive and fun way for many people to keep in touch with mates than emailing I think. Bright colours, easy and intuitive interface, photos etc.

I'd mainly use it to put up photos for sharing with friends but I agree there are better places to do that.

Trilla

Trilla wrote:

A common thing companies do now is check out peoples bebo/facebook/hey look at me Im great websites in an attempt to find out exactly what their employees are like, especially when they are recruiting or hiring people.

Don't know if you or anyone else saw this recently but check out the Linkage

Why anyone would have thier real name on their Bebo page is beyond me anyway. Sure put your phone number and address up there as well why dontcha?

Also it's a bit ridiculous people on here saying "I despise it", or "Bebo is retarded"..............there's one simple answer to all that........................


Don't fncking look at it!!!!...........Nobody's forcing you to trawl through all the crap that's on it, so just ignore it. Simple.

MikeHoncho

Terry wrote:

You both may be interested in this thread.
http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055143729

As in photos of me and my friends and activities we go on and such. I cant speak for the other guy. He seems to be a bit of a pervo. I dont even like bewbs I swear. Leave me alone!!!!!!!

Fighting Irish

rb_ie wrote:

Bebo is retarded.

not really, its very handy for keeping in touch with people/friends


if you want an example of a retarded site just take a look at your sig
http://www.fatchicksinpartyhats.com/

User45701

Bebo is bollox but the last 2 weeks or so my friends have really been trying to get me to use it, i have an account i signed up about a year and a bit ago but i never use the thing, there telling me i should use it to keep in touch and find out when the good sessions are without wasting any credit.

no to me that makes sense and all but its ****ing bebo arnt there loads of bebo pervs and these poeple who will go around and randomly post on peoples bebos they dont know saying weird things like hi?

I can understand saying hi on a forum or in a game because your interacting, doing the same thing but to actually look around bebo just to find someone to say hi to? thats a bit madd if you ask me

tech77

Thanks for the replies.
I take the point about ignoring something that annoys me.
I will.

But tbh i'm not just talking about bebo.
I'm using bebo as an example really of a more general trend of coarse vulgarity/whorishness and shameless self-promotion among some people nowadays.

It's so commonplace and unoriginal that you just wonder why these people don't just stop and say to themselves "this is getting old and i'm sick of it".

Dizzyblabla

But how many people here who are giving out about Bebo have blogs? for those who do not know the blogging world, this is a much easier and more fun way of putting random thoughts online for others to see... the difference being?? the sparkly writing, the silly photo's, yes, but not everyone has it this way.

I'm sure most people don't have Bebo sites just to be self celebrating, but if comments on photo's boost their ego, why is that a bad thing? I find here that people can be very negative towards pretty much anything that they don't like themselves. That's fair enough, everyone is entitled to their opinions. I use Bebo to upload photo's of my apartment in Norway, of random nights out, any comment or picture that I wouldn't show to my parents or a young cousin is taken off.

I guess it depends on the person, but really, don't tar everyone with the same brush, for some, it's just a way of keeping in touch!

JIZZLORD

Bebo is used by too many people who shouldn't have been let near computers.

Bring back £2000 computers and dialup!
that'll show them

David Michael

Bring back Reputation.

Niamho!

i've also found a good few people from a few years ago that i'd never have got back in touch with ony for Bebo. those stupid half naked Teenagers though....who can deny that they put those pics up for self-promotion...

MrJoeSoap

rb_ie wrote:

Bebo is retarded.

Well done, another quality contribution to the argument by rb_ie. Steered well clear of the school debating team did we?

JIZZLORD wrote:

Bebo is used by too many people who shouldn't have been let near computers.

If you don't like Bebo, don't use it. I know it may seem complex, but it's really quite a simple idea. There are millions, nay billions of websites today that I have no interest in, people preaching hatred and racism etc. But no, Bebo is the one people love to moan about.

It's actually pathetic that so many people can get annoyed at a website.

I use it to keep in touch with people I went to school or college with, and people I met on holidays, it's free and it's convenient. What's the problem?

David Michael

In reality it is full of young hormonal kids and early teens. And then some older teens. It seems to be full of people who are "new" to the internet. So tp speak.

If bebo is how they wish to use the interweb... then so be it. Not my cup of tea but being older it is just like that. A lot will float around bebo till they discover IRC...bulletin boards...ICQ etc etc.

Not everyone has been on the internet for years. Like if you only came across the internet today....where would you start...end...:eek:

Probabaly bebo....

Terry

MrJoeSoap wrote:

Well done, another quality contribution to the argument by rb_ie. Steered well clear of the school debating team did we?

I'm still waiting for his reply to my question regarding people who use it.

kaimera

Daddio wrote:

Bebo is a more attractive and fun way for many people to keep in touch with mates than emailing I think. Bright colours, easy and intuitive interface, photos etc.

So it's dumbed down then?

I'd mainly use it to put up photos for sharing with friends but I agree there are better places to do that.

I used flickr but then they wanted me to pay to upload more then 200 pics so I just used picasa now instead to share photos among friends.

Different strokes and all that. I honestly don't even look at bebo, never have/had a reason too.

Call Me Jimmy

While I don't use bebo I do use boards most days and I think most people here are self-promoting.

I'm not having a go at anyone, but almost all posts in the non-specific forums are people trying to be as witty or funny as possible, to the point that all posts are just attempts to out-do each other in those departments. You can go through threads and see the desperation grow as people try to have the single best one liner reply to a topic. Then ye have BGRH which I understand is just a bit of fun but it is - no matter how much they deny it - attempts to show how much they drink and give they ho's the strong arm.

Then ye have know your nerds which is more about self-promotion than the most narcissistic 15 year old girl's pink bebo page.

And ye could say that I am trying to show that I am above it all and that all you guys are losers but I admit I'm just as bad as anyone on boards.

Terry

I think all these things should be merged into one.

I've now had to set up a facebook account because my friends in Australia and Kilcock use it and want to keep in touch with me through it.

Pain in the ****ing hole.

Dr Pepper

tech77 wrote:

Just looking at some bebo sites there yesterday.
All this unmitigated, unadulterated self-promotion and celebration of unremarkable, uninteresting lives.

I'm sure there are interesting bebo sites out there but it seems to be dominated mostly by an attitude of "look at me, i'm fcuking great even though i've nothing to show for it" no matter how unremarkable or inane the individual is.

Why the fcuk is every single last bit of mediocrity nowadays praised and celebrated like it's a true work of genius.
Nobody 'fails' at anything anymore it seems.
Everyone has to be happy (or seen to be at least).
Is all this apparent confidence real or is it just a facade.

Is there no room nowadays for a bit of constructive self-doubt, self-criticism, self-reflection and thoughtfulness/reservedness in speech and manner (before mouthing off one's ill-informed, uninteresting views).

Don't get me wrong, if something is worth celebrating, it should be celebrated. e.g talent, genius, wit, keen intellect, beauty etc.
But the whole meaning of celebration nowadays is devalued.

It also seems that the people who have the least to celebrate are doing all the celebrating and self-promotion.

I probably sound like a miserable old git- I'm not really.
I just don't buy the unrelenting self-promotion/celebration thing.
Am i missing something or do i just need to get with the program.

Here, here.. but I prefer this description (much more elegant and comprehensive)

rb_ie wrote:

Bebo is retarded.

On another note, I find it interesting that the first 10 or so posts agreed with the OP and the vast majority since disagreed. I notice this trend in a lot of threads. Anybody have any theories on how this type of trend might come about? Time of day of posts? People have more confidence to post when going along with popular opinion?

Terry

Dr Pepper wrote:

On another note, I find it interesting that the first 10 or so posts agreed with the OP and the vast majority since disagreed. I notice this trend in a lot of threads. Anybody have any theories on how this type of trend might come about? Time of day of posts? People have more confidence to post when going along with popular opinion?

He wasn't following the trend.
I have seen him post that comment before.

I still want to know if he thinks its users are retarded though.

As an aside, I used it to babysit last night. Sort of.
My friend was hiding out in my house and I was taking his calls.
He was supposed to be looking after his 13 year old nephew, who can basically look after himself.
The nephew rang and I answered the phone. At this stage I was getting a bit pissed off (and pissed drunk), so I just told him to go onto bebo and leave me a message if he was frightened or anything. He was only across the road anyway, so nothing was going to happen.

Nehpets

Bebo is just a bit of fun / contact with people / something to do.

No need to take it too seriously. I think it's great.

leninbenjamin

i use it just to keep contact with some of the people i've met travelling. apart from that it's largely useless. waste of processing power in Univerity computers. the amount of time i've gone in there looking to write up a project and see row after row of people using Bebo and not a free computer among them! :mad:

Orange69

Terry wrote:

The nephew rang and I answered the phone. At this stage I was getting a bit pissed off (and pissed drunk), so I just told him to go onto bebo and leave me a message if he was frightened or anything.

lol

chucks

Nehpets wrote:

Bebo is just a bit of fun / contact with people / something to do.

No need to take it too seriously. I think it's great.

+1

Disliking bebo doesnt make you cooler than the rest of us

Burning Eclipse

MrJoeSoap wrote:

Well done, another quality contribution to the argument by rb_ie. Steered well clear of the school debating team did we?



If you don't like Bebo, don't use it. I know it may seem complex, but it's really quite a simple idea. There are millions, nay billions of websites today that I have no interest in, people preaching hatred and racism etc. But no, Bebo is the one people love to moan about.

It's actually pathetic that so many people can get annoyed at a website.

I use it to keep in touch with people I went to school or college with, and people I met on holidays, it's free and it's convenient. What's the problem?

I wish the internet posting community at large had half of your intelligence!! Sadly, they don't.

Caliden

One of my friends from college feels the need to tell everyone what he's doing on the hour, every hour.

Who cares?