Happy Birthday, Facebook!

According to this morning’s trending topics, today is Facebook’s 6th birthday! It seems that lately there has been a rash of theme photo weeks.

About a month ago there was “use-a-photo-of-yourself-as-a-kid” week. I didn’t participate because I’m old enough that my baby pictures are in this medium called “film”! You may have heard of it. My mother doesn’t know how to use a scanner and I’m too lazy to scan hundreds of old photos. It’s too bad I didn’t participate that week because I was much cuter as a child than I am now.

Next came “use-a-wedding-photo” week. I’m not married and I’m ok with it. I certainly don’t have a problem with marriage as an institution. It’s too bad that my parents (and other couples their age) don’t have Facebook or know how to use scanners, because there was some pretty scary hair in the 70s. That week would have produced some wicked funny pictures!

Most recently there was “use-a-celebrity-you-have-convinced-yourself-you-look-like” week. I couldn’t think of anyone that I looked like, no matter how hard I stretched my imagination. I got a kick out of other people’s choices, however. Some were spot on, while others? Not so much. My pride was a little hurt that I none of my friends made a suggestion of an attractive celebrity that I looked like, but I got over it.

So, what if someone died and made me Queen of Facebook? I would make “use-yourself-with-your-favorite-baseball-hat-picture” week since that’s what I‘ve been using since I joined FB about two years ago.

Or an even better suggestion would be “use-a-picure-of-yourself” week. What a thought! Right now, if a stranger hacked into my account and viewed my newsfeed, he or she would marvel at my friend Sue who appears to be two people, one male and one female, who are joined at the hip! Then there is my friend, Nate, who is a 9 month old girl! The stranger would fall off his or her chair to discover that I am friends with a 30 week-old fetus, Justine! How do I maintain a friendship with someone in the womb? It’s a modern-day medical miracle!

Now, don’t get me wrong. I don’t think there is anything wrong with being proud to be in a relationship, or being an expectant parent, or having cute children. That’s great, but that’s what the photo albums are for. Your profile picture should be a picture of YOU!

Anyway, happy birthday, Facebook. May you continue to bring me friends’ updates for years to come. Or at least until all my friends are on Twitter!