Edgelinks: 'Copy This Text and Put It in Your Status if You Know Someone'

Sunday, January 9, 2011

'Copy This Text and Put It in Your Status if You Know Someone' - Facebook's Sarcastic Status Meme

Copy this text and put it in your status if you know someone, or have heard of someone who knows someone. If you don't know anyone, or even if you've just heard of someone who doesn't know anyone, then still copy this. It's important to spread the message.

Thousands of Facebook users have posted the text above. I almost didn't catch this new meme, because its punchline is in what it leaves out. It's a genre parody, mocking chain-letter status updates like "Copy this if you know someone who died in a car accident!" and "Pass this on if you're in love with someone who doesn't love you back!"

Chain letters act like viruses, and their carriers are the boring, the gullible and the sentimental. And Facebook has taken them out of email threads populated only by these people, back into the world of the more savvy. And you can't just block your mom on Facebook for spreading the word about breast cancer. So it's satisfying to see this little counter-virus spread, teasing without condemning.

One popular variation includes this extra jab:

And the hearts!!! ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ For f***'s sake, don't forget the f***ing hearts! ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

It's cute to see how many people have edited that to "crap's sake" or "heaven's sake." One guy added, "I heard puppies will be murdered if you forget the hearts."

And it's funny to see how many people spreading this anti-meme look like the same normal people who spread the real ones. Hell, they probably are the same people. At least it's nice to see them self-deprecate.