Epic-Long Facebook Status Updates Are a Horrible Idea

on December 2, 2011 at 1:28 PM

facebook status updates We all have them: Those bothersome Facebook friends that share status updates all day, every day. Well, what if I told you that those hassling updates were about to get a whole lot longer? Yes, Facebook announced Wednesday that users can now write posts with more than 60,000 characters. Actually it's 63,206 characters, to be exact. That's 12 times the current max, and 400 times the size of a tweet! Ay caramba!

"For reference, a novel has roughly 500,000 characters," Facebook posted. "This could be shared in 9 posts."

... a freakin' novel!? Someone, anyone, PLEASE tell me why this is a good idea!

With the new lengthier status update, users can essentially use the social network as a personal blog complete with long, rambling posts. Or, they can be "that friend" who posts chapters from Moby Dick or Great Expectations simply because they can. You know what you can do in response? BLOCK, immediately!

Can you see that I'm not exactly excited for this new Facebook change? I've kept a few of those status haggling "friends" around because, as annoying as they can be, they're still pretty entertaining. The thought of those friends literally taking over my feed? No thank you! Looks like Facebook's latest tweak means it's finally time to do some unfriending, and to be honest, it's probably for the best.

On a positive note, I'm pretty optimistic that my real friends will use the longer status updates with restraint. One could hope that maybe the longer Facebook posts will bring better quality content. Lately, I've seen tidbits on my feed about what people are listening to and reading about. With the new status feature, it would be cool to get a sneak peek of the articles or lyrics, too.

What do you think of the ability to post longer messages on Facebook?

Image via Robert S. Donovan/Flickr

About the author Emily Abbate

is a blogger and Editorial Assistant here at The Stir.

Filed Under: web, facebook

Comments (8)

jasmineg86

on Dec 2, 2011 at 1:33 PM

please let anyone on my friends list that thinks this is positive way to litter my newsfeed already be set to "hide"

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Nonmember comment from glassxballerina

on Dec 2, 2011 at 1:35 PM

I foresee a very interesting book coming out of this - something similar to post secret.

LilyWillowMom

on Dec 2, 2011 at 2:05 PM

I plan on abusing the "hide story" button, myself. This is ridiculous.

crazymommy2007

on Dec 2, 2011 at 2:40 PM

This gives me a headache, the gawd aweful rants of the depressed/ attention freaks can now be longer.

Kiki1212

on Dec 2, 2011 at 2:49 PM

Well, I wonder which is worse, this or the play by play of your day that I get from some FB friends. I do not need to know what you are eating, wearing, smelling or doing all day. And don't get me started on people that photograph the meals they eat!

douxmusique

on Dec 2, 2011 at 2:53 PM

Oh perfect.

Nonmember comment from Chrissy

on Dec 2, 2011 at 8:23 PM

I think it's great. My FB friends aren't random aquaintences and high school friends. They are real, close friends and family. People I talk to everyday. I love it when I know what my friends and family across the country are doing, eating, reading, etc. I like long posts. The people who annoy me are the ones who only check their page once a week.

ericabb

on Dec 3, 2011 at 9:16 PM

I think it's great too. I've had some funny stories to share with friends (who did laugh) that had to be continued in the comments. I find that annoying. So, as long as these long posts are truncated ("read more...") then I don't see what the problem is.