Inappropriate backgrounds

One of the features of facebook is that it allows users to post a status update accompanied by a colourful illustrated background. This can be a nice way to add a cheerful or eye-catching image to a message. However, it can also lead to amusing occasions when people accidentally select a mismatched background which doesn't quite fit with the tone of their status update.

This week the Charles Fudgemuffin blog highlights a few such examples...

1) Happy background

"What happened at Walmart? I was there at 5:11pm. Did someone die?"

"Congratulations!"

Balloons and cake! The perfect way to celebrate someone possibly dying!

Weird facebook likes (part 6)

This is a theme which I haven't featured for quite some time on the Charles Fudgemuffin blog, but it always makes me chuckle so I'm featuring it again.

You have ruined your expensive headphones.
2 friends like this.

I'm talking about weird facebook likes. Specifically, the practice of people posting a status on facebook which is clearly bad news, and yet several of their alleged 'friends' then bizarrely reach straight for the 'like' button.

1) To give an example of what I'm referring to, here's someone who made an expensive mistake.

"Why not add a modern twist to the classic 'forget to check jeans pockets for tissues before putting them in the wash' by also not checking for headphones? ******!"

2 friends like this.

So to summarise, you've ruined your expensive headphones, and two of your so-called friends are delighted with this news!

Weird facebook likes (part 5)

Facebook recently introduced 'reactions' to give users more options for responding to their friends posts, but some people are still using the good old 'like' button ... sometimes for the most inappropriate statuses. I have to admit, after seeing some facebook likes, I'm left wondering, are they facebook friends ... or enemies?

Here's another round-up of weird facebook likes, starting with that popular source of good news, a car crash...

"I've just smashed my car into a bus stop."
7 friends like this.

1) "Anyone else forget how to drive when there is a bus stop about????"

7 friends like this.

The status was accompanied by the photo shown to the right to illustrate the damage to their car. I think I must be missing something here, because I can't quite grasp how your friend smashing their car up is something you would like.

The screen licking pug

A helpful pug to answer all your questions...

A cute baby pug.
Please note, this pug isn't the actual 'screen licking pug'
and is used purely for illustrative purposes.

The Charles Fudgemuffin blog should perhaps be renamed the 'Charles Pugmuffin' blog, because last week's blog post featured ten cute pug photos to celebrate National Pug Day, and this week's post also has a pug theme to it.

It's an adaptation to a childish facebook prank I previously featured, whereby whenever your friends ask a question on facebook, you simply post a reply claiming that the following link provides a helpful solution to their problem:
www.smarturl.it/InfoPage216

However, in actual fact the above 'InfoPage216' link isn't helpful as all, and instead it sneakily redirects them to the 'screen licking pug'.

Here are a few examples to demonstrate...

Silly statuses

When links aren't quite what they seem...

A photo link from one of my recent silly statuses.

Anyone who follows me on facebook or twitter may have noticed that I'm often in a silly mood, so over the last few months I've been posting the occasional silly status.

Each of the following statuses makes a supposedly sensible claim, and is accompanied by a link providing further information. However, when you click the link you discover that although the original claims are true, they're nevertheless not always quite what you might expect...

1) First up is a status which will appeal to internet users looking for a foolproof method to get free wifi. However, it involves dubious methods ... or does it?

"A clever wifi hack that lets you use any password protected wifi connection:
http://smarturl.it/WifiConnect"

Prank facebook hacking

"Hello everyone. I am about to learn a hard lesson today. I am about to learn not to leave my facebook account logged in at work..."

That was a friend's status on facebook a few weeks ago, and it's also the theme for this week's blog post. I should first of all clarify that Charles Fudgemuffin in no way condones prank facebook hacking, but if you do find yourself with access to a friend's facebook account and you decide to post an embarrassing prank fake status, then the following examples, taken from my own facebook timeline, may provide inspiration for ideas.

A loving husband makes a generous promise to his wife
... or does he?

First of all, here's a standard classic hack...

1) "Best piece of advice you'll ever get... Listen to your wife. She knows best!"

Hmm, I wonder who could have been behind this status?



And a variation on the same theme...

2) "Well today I am going to take my wife shopping and buy her lots of nice things."

Strangely, the husband in question must have then had second thoughts because he replied to his own status with the comment:

"I am soooo not!"

The latest facebook hoax

The best way to respond to internet hoaxers...

Sammy The Seagull with his face pixellated to protect his privacy.

Over the last week, most people on facebook will have noticed some of their friends posting a long-winded message stating that they don't give facebook permission to use their photos, information or posts, and that violation of privacy can be punished by law UCC 1-308-11 308-103, etc, etc. Apparently, UCC 1-308-11 308-103 doesn't even relate to online privacy (and even if it did, I'm pretty sure that an American law wouldn't be much use for people in the rest of the world), and it turns out that the message was started by a sneaky prankster.

To me, the art of bluffery should only be used for playing good natured tricks on people and having a bit of daft fun. The best way to deal with an online hoax like this therefore is probably the way one facebook friend responded to it, i.e. by posting the following message:

The Broof Pirate: A childish facebook prank

The Broof Pirate, happy to help with all your facebook questions...

Most pirates carry a pirate sword like this one pictured,
but the Broof Pirate instead carries a bottle of Broof.

In the past on the Charles Fudgemuffin blog I've featured a few daft childish pranks to play on facebook, and once again I thought I would mention an amusingly childish facebook prank. Most people will probably find this extremely childish, and also a bit surreal, so it'll only appeal to people who are extremely immature and easily amused, like myself for example.

The prank involves a link shortener to disguise the actual website link, and the link is www.smarturl.it/InfoPage468. The 'InfoPage468' reference makes it appear as if it links to some useful information, but in actual fact the link sneakily redirects to the 'Broof Pirate' website which is a ridiculous website featuring a pirate who makes funny 'broof' noises.

To play the prank, just wait until one of your facebook friends posts a question asking for advice, and then post a reply providing an allegedly 'helpful' link. However, instead of posting a helpful link, you instead post the disguised link to the Broof Pirate.

Here are a few examples based on questions posed on my own facebook feed...

Weird facebook likes (part 4)

A topic I've covered before on the Charles Fudgemuffin blog is the bizarre practise of someone posting bad news on facebook, only for all their so-called friends to click the 'like' button! It's been a few months since my last post on this subject, so here's another batch of weird and inappropriate facebook likes which I've come across. This latest batch features physical, financial, and culinary bad news.

"I've just slashed my finger with a meat cleaver."
1 friend likes this.

1) "Searching around my kitchen draw for some sellotape and ... yes a verrrrry sharp meat cleaver ... now that smarts!!!!!"

1 friend likes this.

Maybe it's just me, but I can't quite grasp why your friend nearly slicing his finger off would be something you would like?!?



This next one is an example of financial misfortune, rather than physical misfortune...

2) "Can't believe I've walked away from the cash machine and left my £100! What an idiot!!!"

4 friends like this.

So to recap, in all probability you've just lost £100 at an ATM because of a foolish error, and four of your alleged friends like this!? If I had just lost £100 and four friends 'liked' it, I think I would be making use of the 'unfriend' button very quickly indeed!

Pranks on facebook and twitter

A few examples of how to prank people on social media.

As I've mentioned before on my blog I'm a big fan of pranks, but the prank has to be good natured otherwise it ceases to be a funny prank and instead becomes a sly trick. So with that in mind, here's another batch or pranks (or sly tricks, depending on your point of view), but this time featuring pranks and tricks with a facebook and twitter theme...

1) My breath smells of farts!

Like this photo if you have camel breath.

This first example is a funny trick you can play on facebook which will make your friends feel a bit embarrassed. First of all post a status which is happy news or a positive comment or basically something which is likely to get as many likes as possible from your friends.

Then once a load of friends have liked your status, edit your status to say something completely different, such as:

"Like this status if your breath smells of farts!"

So then it will appear as if all the friends who liked your original comment have clicked 'like' to indicate that their breath smells of farts.

If you don't want to post something childish like this on your own facebook page then you can also do the same trick by replying to someone else's status with a comment which is designed to get lots of likes, and then later editing your comment to something embarrassing.

Funny prank or sly trick?

How to make facebook even better!

If you've arrived at this page expecting some sort of quiz, then read on for an explanation...

Facebook is now even better!
6 Mr Men characters like this.

Over the years facebook has gone through many changes. Sometimes these changes are well received, while other times they don't go down so well. However, one recent change in particular is so perfect that it's like facebook read my mind.

In fact I remember this time last year thinking, 'Facebook is pretty good now, but what would make it even better is if my timeline was jammed full of updates telling me what Game Of Thrones characters my friends were, what Mr Men/Little Miss character they were, what 70s rock band they were, what actor/actress would play them in the movie version of their life, what celebrity they'd get arrested with and generally many more mundane trivialities in which I have no interest whatsoever.'

And now ... my wish has come true!

It's like facebook read my mind!

Weird facebook likes (part 3)

A few more statuses that 'friends' on facebook like.

As I've mentioned before on my blog, I find it strange how people on facebook will sometimes post a status which is clearly bad news, and yet some of their so-called friends will 'like' this bad news. It's been a while since my last post on this theme, so here's another round-up of weird and inappropriate facebook likes.

"A car is on fire." 1 friend likes this.

1) "Stuck in traffic.  Car on fire."

1 friend likes this.

Er ... hello!? A car is on fire! That's not something you're supposed to like! I realise there's not a standard set of rules for what you can and can't like on facebook, but if there was then surely, "Don't click 'like' when someone's car sets on fire," would have to be one of the rules.


Next up is another example of a status where the 'like' button just seems to me to be a little inappropriate.

2) "I lived in Mexico problem free for six months then get mugged on my way home in East London."

4 friends like this.

I'm no expert on this, but I'm pretty sure that your friend getting mugged isn't something you should be liking.


This next one is even worse.

Weird facebook likes (part 2)

With friends like these, who needs enemies?

A couple of months ago I featured a post on how I find it strange that sometimes people will update their facebook status with blatant bad news, and yet bizarrely some of their alleged friends will then 'like' it. There have been more facebook statuses along those lines since my original round-up and so I thought it was time for another collection of weird and inappropriate facebook likes.

I'll start things off straight away with a photo which illustrates what I'm getting at...

1) A few weeks ago the unpredictable English weather was at its worst once again and so during a recent camping trip, some friends unfortunately got caught in some pretty severe floods. To show people just how bad the flooding was, they uploaded the following photo of their campsite to facebook:

Your holiday has been ruined by torrential floods.
3 friends like this.

And unbelievably it got three likes!

Weird facebook likes (part 1)

A selection of inappropriate facebook likes...

Thumbs up for weird facebook likes.

One of the things I find strange about facebook is the way that people will sometimes post a status update which is clearly bad news, and yet loads of their alleged friends will 'like' the post. Sometimes I can't help thinking, 'Eh? Why are you liking that? That's obviously bad news.'

I'm talking about statuses along the lines of, 'Just got sacked from my job.' ...6 people like this. That sort of thing. That one was just a made-up example but there are plenty of real facebook statuses which are clearly bad news and yet people still seem to click the 'like' button for some reason.

I've rounded up a few examples to highlight what I'm referring to, and to start things off here's a very straight forward example which perfectly illustrates how the 'like' button often gets misused.