5. After That '25 Things' Note, There's Not Much Left to Say

First you filled out a long list of interests, hobbies, favorite movies, books, and music; posted album after album of the hottest pictures of yourself; and wrote endless updates about what you were up to. Then, a few months ago, the 25 Things note burst onto the Facebook scene, inviting you to achieve new levels of narcissism by laboring over a creative autobiographical fact sheet and posting it to your profile. Responding to that challenge, you were more candid, literary, and elaborate than ever, but now there's nowhere to go but down.

Illustrating this depressing fact is the recent, hideous Facebook trend of using quiz results as status updates. "Which kind of partier are you?" Result: "The hot girl throwing up in the bathroom!" ... "Which kind of animal noise are you?" Result: "Ribbit, Ribbit!" Facebookers are clearly wiped out of material. There is nothing more to say.

Facebook's long-term survival is up to the people who use it. The first order of business might be to just say "no" to publishing the quizzes. Quiz results are no match for original content, even if it consists of your latest report on making the bed or washing your hair. Another key issue is to choose your friends carefully. Is the prospective friend (your boss, your grandmother, your ex) going to force boringness on your future updates? Is this newcomer's presence going to require you to censor your wall? If so, click 'ignore' in response to the person's friend request. More is not necessarily merrier when it comes to Facebook. It's the old quality over quantity thing: The quality of the content people share at Facebook may contribute to the longevity of the site far more than the sheer number of people who connect with eachother.

For more Facebook-related content, check out these PC World articles:

• "Are Baby Boomers Killing Facebook and Twitter?"

• "Facebook Pages We'd Like to See"

• "How to Live Your Entire Life on Facebook"

• "5 Facebook Scams: Protect Your Profile"