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“25 Random Things” Chain Letter Exploding Across Facebook
February 2nd, 2009
| By Justin Smith | 26 Comments » |
A new chain letter has hit the tipping point on Facebook in recent days called “25 Random Things About Me.” It’s one of the largest cases of chain letters being forwarded through Facebook using Facebook Notes we’ve seen to date.
While Facebook can’t pinpoint exactly when the chain started, a Facebook spokesperson told Inside Facebook that:
- The number of total Facebook Notes created per day has increased over 100% in the last week
- The number of people tagged in Facebook Notes per day has increased 5x in the last week
Here’s how the chain letter works: the above instructions, which accompany the 25 things being shared, ask recipients to write up their own “25 Random Things About Me” Note and “tag” 25 of their Facebook friends in it.
While chain letters have been around since at least the 19th century, the use of Facebook Notes as a channel for one-to-many forwarding is still relatively uncommon compared to popular content sharing Facebook applications and even email.
However, as with any new communication tool, the social rules around Facebook Note tagging are still being defined:
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February 2nd, 2009 at 5:55 am
[...] okay. i did a chain mail (or sorts) on facebook and i didn’t know it got pretty serious across the globe. just read this post. [...]
February 2nd, 2009 at 8:22 am
Oh no, does this mean that the Nigerian generals with their million dollar hoards which require bank accounts will be adding me as a friend next? And then we’ll be subjected to messages telling me that if I don’t get 10 friends to install this application, bad luck will befall my family for 10 years?
Actually, we’ve had that last one already.
February 2nd, 2009 at 5:23 pm
[...] — amymengel @ 7:23 pm Okay, first of all, I’d like to know why whoever started this increasingly popular meme chose the number 25. That’s a LOT of randomness to come up with! Especially for someone [...]
February 2nd, 2009 at 6:44 pm
The 25 things isn’t really a chain letter…it’s a meme: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet_meme .
It doesn’t function anything like a chain letter except for the viral aspect. It doesn’t come to you in your email/snail mail, no bad things are going to happen, and nothing is going to come your way. It’s merely a way for people to find out things about each other. This same thing has happened on blogs for years and no one thought of that as a chain letter. As people start to use Facebook in place of blogs, expect to see more and more memes making their rounds.
February 3rd, 2009 at 12:34 am
I went and made my Random 25 into a video – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ypXAaW9jFLU
February 3rd, 2009 at 9:22 am
[...] Random Things About Valentine’s Day By migsbassig So everyone’s busy doing the “25 Random Things About Me” Internet meme on Facebook. It’s a lot of randomness to come up with – why twenty-five in the [...]
February 4th, 2009 at 5:05 am
[...] “25 Random Things” Chain Letter Exploding Across FacebookI de digitala medierna har vi plötsligt börjat att gilla kedjebrev. [...]
February 4th, 2009 at 6:14 pm
[...] andinarvaez I don’t know where it started but I do know that a co-worker tagged me in his “25 Random Things” Facebook Note and that I’ve seen at least a dozen other lists of random things pop up in my [...]
February 5th, 2009 at 10:46 am
Iron Mike has a pretty funny take on this – http://www.theironmike.com/2009/02/25-random-facts.html
February 5th, 2009 at 1:35 pm
[...] and decided that I would adapt a meme that’s been making the rounds of Facebook lately called 25 Random Things. So, here are 25 Things I Believe About the Rochester Public Library and Monroe County Library [...]
February 5th, 2009 at 6:13 pm
I still don’t really understand why this has gone so viral! Its really not that interesting and MEMEs like this have been going around MySpace for years! What makes this one soooo cool and interesting. I believe i’ve been tagged OVER 8 times by people…
February 6th, 2009 at 2:59 am
[...] With the facebook community growing at rapid speed, I often find myself wondering what in the world some people are thinking? Sure, it can be a great tool for connecting with old friends and bonding with people who share common interests, but there are some people that in my opinion, take the “sharing” thing a bit too far. Don’t they care that for the most part, everyone can see their status updates, photos, wall posts and now, 25 random things? [...]
February 6th, 2009 at 5:44 am
[...] “25 Random Things” Chain Letter Exploding Across Facebook – The number of total Facebook Notes created per day has increased over 100% in the last week – The number of people tagged in Facebook Notes per day has increased 5x in the last week I’m on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and Friendfeed. Catch up with me. [...]
February 6th, 2009 at 8:04 am
[...] has been burning through Facebook, with users tagging other users in order to compel them to complete their own 25 things. I believe [...]
February 6th, 2009 at 11:14 am
[...] is being written about as much as it’s being written. In the din of all the competing voices trying to be wry, I’ve only read one truly funny take on this dull [...]
February 6th, 2009 at 5:28 pm
Hah! I love how people will always find a way to be obnoxious with internet channels of communication. It could be an IRC chat room, or an oldschool BBS, someone will always find a way to create useless content with a social incentive.
February 8th, 2009 at 2:01 pm
[...] chain letter, or Chain Letter 2.0, that is spreading like crazy on Facebook Notes application. Inside Facebook reports that posts on Facebook Notes have increased 100% in a week’s time. It has become so [...]
February 11th, 2009 at 9:00 pm
[...] more details here. Category: [...]
February 12th, 2009 at 10:46 pm
A bit of a play on the meme… 25 Random Thongs http://www.facebook.com/apps/application.php?id=49136321798
February 19th, 2009 at 5:18 am
pointless and stupid
should be reported as spammers honestly
March 5th, 2009 at 6:57 pm
[...] have, up until this point, found no reason to partake in the latest online craze – Facebook’s 25 Random Things About You. It’s simply an online chain letter that involves sharing 25 ‘random’ facts about [...]
March 6th, 2009 at 12:07 pm
[...] Inside Facebook got a little bit of the statistics showing how big this has gotten. [...]
March 30th, 2009 at 5:28 am
[...] it started with the Facebook – 25 random things about me, that we were all tagged in, and I’ve come across another one- “Show Your [...]
May 27th, 2009 at 9:59 pm
[...] what is the trail mix of your life, my dear readers? If we all endured the 25 Random Things on Facebook, surely we can handle this. Write back, let me know. No minimum or maximum [...]
June 16th, 2009 at 4:21 pm
[...] “25 Random Things” Chain Letter Exploding Across Facebook I de digitala medierna har vi plötsligt börjat att gilla kedjebrev. [...]
July 11th, 2009 at 2:47 am
[...] first of all, I’d like to know why whoever started this increasingly popular meme chose the number 25. That’s a LOT of randomness to come up with! Especially for someone [...]