This is Bill-Sh*t
Don’t be like anyone. Just do you.
This is Bill.
Bill’s mere existence is passive aggressively judging you.
Don’t be like Bill.
F*ckin’ do you.
You’ve got to commend anyone who can make a viral sensation as big as the “Be like me” meme presently flooding Facebook. What we shouldn’t be so thrilled about, however, is the way these name generators passive aggressively shame our peers. Behold:
Funny? Well yeah actually, kind of! But this, like any piece of media, has an agenda – a raison d’être, if you will. Namely, to call out your Facebook friends for their annoying habits. But it’s a crazy passive aggressive way of doing so, one that also makes anybody sharing one kind of sound like a smug prick (sorry, tough love).
The “be like me”-ness of it all is not only patronizing, but also paints those posting their own procedurally generated versions of the meme as people who think they’re better or more right in their way of doing things than others. Sorry, but I call bullshit.
We’ve got enough negativity on the internet as it is. Unless someone is posting something outright ignorant and / or offensive, let them be, man. If you’re really so annoyed by your friends, why not utilize Facebook’s “unfollow” feature instead of talking anonymous smack about them? Or better yet, confront them personally in a private message if you’re so upset by their online behaviour.
The internet is cool because you can share the things you think are cool with the people you think are cool. If someone needs a meme to tell you that they dislike how you present yourself online, they’re not being very cool. Don’t be like Bill, or Emily or Jake or anyone, really. Just be you.
