Skins and Facebook

Hi,
So about 4 years ago Friendster was really big and one of the attractions is being able to customize one's profile page with various backgrounds and layouts. Then Facebook trumped Friendster and became a worldwide phenomenon.

Facebook, unlike Friendster, doesn't have all the customizable profile thing going on and to be honest this is kind of a relief for me because personally I feel really pressured in picking the 'right' layout that looks uber cool. My fears are not unfounded either. Your layout is an expression of who you are and if it ain't cool then you're not cool either.

With Facebook I feel like everyone is equal. You only get to see how cool people are if you actually go into their photo albums and see the exciting things they do and the awesome places they go to. Other than that, they're just like everyone else with their blue and white background. Until recently that is.

Last month when a girl sitting beside me in a bus whipped out her lappy and logged on her Facebook. That's when I saw a Facebook skin 'in action' for the first time and no joke, it left me paralyzed with horror for a few seconds. I went like, "NOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!" inside.

Great. Now that Facebook has skins available it's just a matter of time before everyone jumps on the bandwagon and we get judged by our tastes again. When you're younger it's more forgivable to pick the 'wrong' and the ugly. It's so much more difficult now that I'm a working young woman.

Not only will I need to pick something that's in my favorite color, I would also need to pick something that reflects who I am without sending the wrong message or impressions to my future employers while at the same time look cool and hopefully unique. Talk about pressure.

Now I know what you're saying. If I feel so negatively about it then don't install it. Problem solved right? Wrong. As grown up as I am, I still have this need to conform to the norm around me. And I don't have anything against pimping my profile really, it's just the whole judgement on what I choose that makes me a wee bit anxious.

Nevertheless, I decided to check out one of the sites that provides Facebook skins and here are some of that caught my attention:

Okay, so being a girly girl, I immediately clicked on the Girly category and I feel a bit confused. Since when does girly equals soft porn?

Imagine if I pick this as my FB skin. Haha.. Kalah orang yang kerja di MAC Counter oh..

Now this is an expression of a side of me but unfortunately blue is not my color and it doesn't really look classy or sophisticated for the benefit of my future employers. Yeah, neurotic I know.

 This is an example on how skins can give out the wrong message or impression. Talk about desperate. And when the husband sees this somebody's gonna have a lot of explaining to do.

In the end this is what I picked:

Perfect!