Facebook Apps: Bah Humbug!
I now have approximately 150 “friends” on Facebook, and find myself getting overrun with app requests. The funny thing is, most of them come from primarily one person, who seems to think the more the merrier when it comes to playing with apps.
Personally, I like some of the apps, and enjoy sending things to friends that I think they will enjoy as well. Notice the emphasis on “I think they will enjoy.” This means there is some thought behind the sending of app requests. I have a small group of friends on there who I regularly exchange goodies with, but we all, for the most part, stay within reason. This one person, however, seems to think that when you send a request for an app, you should send at least three at a time-from the same app, that is.
What is up with that? All I can figure out is that she is trying to meet the quotas needed by item on some of these apps in order to send other items further down the list. For example, to send a holiday candle, you need to send to 8 people, but to send the candy cane you need to send to 16. The intention, of course, is not to send them all at once-but over time.
Isn’t the purpose of apps to send along wishes to people to make them smile? Well, I’m not smiling when I go to Facebook and find I’ve received 50 app requests in one day, and 35 of them is from the same one person. If I were to accept them all, I would have to process each one individually-not only is that time-consuming, but I have neuropathy in my fingers, so it is also painful!
So now, I will probably end up having to block all app requests from this individual-she has left me no choice. At one time, she would send a request here and there, and was pleasant to interact with. But now she’s just a downright pain.
So folks, I leave you with some general rules of thumb for sending Facebook apps:
1) Don’t send them to brand-newbies until they have had a chance to kind of get their feet wet on Facebook. They need to learn to navigate the “important” stuff first-like adding friends, accepting friend requests, filling out their profile, etc. There will be plenty of play time later.
2) When you go to send someone an app for the first time, look to see if they accept it. If not, they might not want them, or might not be tech-savvy enough to know how to use them. Continuing to send app requests to these folks is only a nuisance.
3) Don’t ever select “all” friends to send apps to-be selective. Not all of my friends, for example, are on Facebook enough to play games, or enjoy games. Hence, I will only select those friends who I think would like to receive the game and leave the rest be.
4) Limit the number of app requests you send a person each day. This can vary by individual. Know your Facebook friends and get a feel for their preferences before jumping in to sending frequent app requests.
5) Don’t send anything based on a “forced invite.” This is where the app won’t show you your results, such as from a quiz, unless you send the app to others first. In most cases, there should be a “skip” option you can select to not invite others. If there is not, this is actually a violation of Facebook terms.
So the moral of the story is, be considerate of your Facebook friends when sending apps. Know their preferences, or even ask if you are not sure. For some, the receipt of apps is a pleasant diversion from everyday life, but for others, they may be a burden. Don’t be a burden-be a real “friend!”
