- Current Location & Hometown - The ability to type a location and not have it autocomplete from a list of "only cities which google maps can find." For example, if you try to give your current location as "Earth," and your hometown as "Saturn," it autocompletes your location as "Earth, Texas" and your hometown as "Saint-Saturnin-lès-Avignon" in France.
And, really, I don't want to get more specific about my location than "Earth."
- Gender - Only two choices? What is this, a doctor's office, trying to eliminate uterine cancer as the reason our abdomens hurt? A medical insurance form trying to calculate medical risks and likely age of death by sociological variables?? NO! This is Facebook, a website for *social* connections and relationships. What is relevant in how we relate to others socially isn't necessarily our biological gender, but how we perceive and identify our gender. Why is there not another option - even if it's just a third option, "Other"?
(If there was a free-text option, I'd probably enter "Yes.")
- Interested in: Men/Women - While I do appreciate that you can select both genders, I always want there to be a text field option for this one, so I could answer "Intelligent Freethinking Geeky Adults With Cute Bottoms." It would be the most accurate response.
- Relationships - I do like that options like "civil partnership" and "open relationship" have been added. However, you can only select one partner in an open relationship - so "It's complicated" is still the only option for a long term poly triad or a girl with two boyfriends.
- Speaking of relationships - Why isn't there a section here, or anywhere, for pets?
- Employer - This field is very limiting for the self-employed, since your answer appears in your Profile or Wall as "Works at." For business owners, actors, writers, artists, and other self-employed people, then, their Wall and Profile says that they "Works at: Self." Don't we all?
- University/Secondary School - Since there is an "Add School" feature to use if the school you start typing doesn't yet have other alumni on Facebook, these two are fantastic JUST THE WAY THEY ARE. You can be a graduate of Pyrdonian Academy, Hogwarts School of Magic and Witchcraft, the School of Hard Knocks, and Starfleet Academy, if you so choose, and if you don't want anyone to know what school you actually did go to.
- Religion/Politics - I love that one can enter anything one wishes to enter in this field, but there is only room for one entry in each. I entered the Flying Spaghetti Monster (of the carbonara sect) for "religion," but I also wanted to include Church of St. Looney Up the Cream Bun and Jam because it is possibly the most innuendo laden made-up religion ever. And I'm equally loyal to both philosophies.
All joking aside, I do know people who can describe their religious beliefs with something like "Jesus-loving buddhist pagan," and have one friend whose religion entry just reads "It's Complicated."
That said, since both options are free text, so you *can* write in "Jesus-loving Buddhist Pagan," or that you are a member of "The Silly Party" or the "Libertarian National Socialist Green Party" - but sadly not both - and there is a "description" field, so that when we read your profile, we can know that by "Christian," you actually really mean that Christmas is your favorite holiday, and you're pretty sure Jesus existed and was a pretty bitchin' dude to party with.
Saturday, July 2, 2011
Things that would make the Facebook Profile Way More Fun
I find the Facebook profile horribly restricting and boring. Here's a few things that should change...
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