Today I saw a very interesting Facebook status on my friend’s wall. It was totally egotistic, and said that she was the best, could do anything she wanted whenever she wanted, and nobody should even bother trying to stop her because she rocks and everyone else sucks. The first thing I thought was, “Okay, obviously she did not write this.” I was right. She had gotten “hacked” by another one of her friends.
I am sure almost everyone who has a Facebook has seen a status posted on someone’s wall that he/she did not write. The ones I have seen are usually exaggerated statements that the person himself/herself would never say, immature humor, or something generally weird. Usually, they are so obvious that people know right away that someone else wrote the status as a joke, so what is the point?
Is it the thrill of knowing you had temporary control over someone else’s account? Is it that people think they will actually create something so scandalous that it will go viral? Is it that people are really bored and want to have some usually short-lived entertainment?
Is it another way of communicating with friends? Who knows?
I don’t think that anyone really takes the time in a “hacked” Facebook status to try and convey any type of underlying message, so I am questioning if these are an instance where there is practically no rhetoric. It does not seem like anyone is trying to convince people to take any action other than laugh, and it certainly does not seem like people are trying to civically engage or persuade people.
Perhaps this is because the faux statuses I have seen are typically made by friends of the account owner and not bitter enemies or ex-friends. Those people are usually not trying to get any revenge or hurt their friends, and even if they were, thinking of the means of doing so, Facebook might not even be rhetorically effective. (I am not trying to condone getting revenge or using the Internet in mean ways though!) What do you think? Is there any point to a “hacked” Facebook status?
The old Facebook hack trick-it is truly a classic. I used to do this to my friend all the time, because I knew his password and all the variations he would change it to when I figured it out. I never made a status, though. I always liked really old pictures of girls he liked, so to make him seem extremely creepy. It was really mean, looking back. I also would chat people from his account and make him seem weird, but not so weird to give it away. Hacking him was like a full time job.
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