A couple of Friday nights ago I may have made a big mistake: I went to bed at 11. It’s not that I stayed up too late. Instead it’s that I might have gone to bed too early. If I’d had my wits about me, perhaps I could have prevented what I’m sure will turn out to be a disastrous oversight on my part, one that may have huge implications to my online reputation (whatever is left of it.)
It seems that sometime early that Saturday morning while I was blissfully asleep, another Will Richardson claimed the new Facebook domain for my name. Will “Cuddle Bug” Richardson, that is, he of (or recently of) Laguna Beach High. Friend of what appears to be 195 other adolescent beach bums with goodness knows how much potential for embarassingness in the years to come.
“Cuddle Bug.”
Oy.
Maybe I should have set my alarm, or had someone call me, or even paid my wife’s high school intern to do the virtual camp out on Facebook and secure the address. Ugh…how could I have been so stupid? I mean, this other Will looks nice enough, arm around what appears to be his mom in the only picture he’s shared publically. (Interesting taste in shirts, however.) But there’s something unsettling about all of this.
“Cuddle Bug.”
Oy. Shoulda stayed awake.
Benjamin Franklin had this covered. “Early to bed and early to rise …”
Will, Just think of the future storytelling value you can get from this experience. Others will learn not to make their own “Cuddle Bug” mistake.
I was also away from my computer living life when the Facebook event happened.
I got “TheJohnSoares” instead of just “John Soares.” I’m happy enough.
Sorry Cuddle Bug, you’re stuck with the nickname now!
I just checked, “Will the Vegan” is still available.
Awww Cuddle Bug! at least you could *try* and get one! what did you end up with? please telle me you didn’t add a number on the end!…[facepalms]
darn FB!…i finally decide to “come out” from under my many interweb pseudonyms to getting an FB with my RL name and find out that NEW accounts didn’t even have the opportunity to get a URL!…so someone else gets /gwyneth_jones but she looks like a nice sort, so i’ll let it slide…..
heh heh cuddle bug….too funny! almost an FML!
~Gwyneth
Hi Will —
Hmmm — guess I am on the other side of the fence on this one…..still not claiming a facebook identity, nor plan to. Since I do not wish my web presence defined by a place where (for me) I only play games.
Perhaps you are using Facebook more powerfully than I am…..but personally, I would say “just let this one go.”
Your web presence is NOT defined by your name on facebook. Your respectability is not defined by your name on facebook. You have created other important and noted online portals that establish who and what you are……If people confuse you with this new facebook identity, than really, they have not done their research.
And frankly, (smiles), it could have been a lot worse than “cuddle bug.”
Thanks for letting me share.
Jen
Thanks for this story ~ what a great way to start my morning, with a chuckle (no it was more of a laugh). I find Facebook an excellent tool for staying connected with my students especially (I balance my use professionally and personally) as well as my classmates from high school and college. It’s another way of updating news and following others’ that may be important to you. Good luck shaking the cuddle bug.
Hey Cuddle Bug!!
The number one person on FB with the same name as me is very blond, very pretty, Australian and often has a profile pic of herself in a bikini at the beach. I am pretty plain (and much more modest) in comparison. I wonder if future potential employers will be more or less likely to short list me after searching my name on Facebook. Could make for an interesting start to an interview…
i think that she should of logged out of the face book before she went to sleep so that no one would of hacked her computer or her account and she should have made her pohots private