2006 was the year of the screen. Not the silver screen, or the television screen, but the computer screen. We, as a nation, were glued to our desk chairs, scarfing down Cheetos and surfing the latest on YouTube. No longer was actual interaction necessary, networking on myspace was the new wave and Facebook suddenly was a stalker's heaven. In honor of the magnificently addictive thing the Internet has become, here is the list of the ten worst web trends of 2006.10. Putting music videos on your profile: Maybe you've watched OK Go dance on their treadmills on repeat ever since the fateful day in July when you first saw the music video and maybe Fergilicious is your new favorite song, but loading their music video onto your Web page (especially if you load more than one) is not ok. It's a nightmare for those of us with less-than-fortunate Internet connections, and if we ever do manage to load your page, despite the onslaught of horrible pop music, we'll be more inclined to leave you a horrible comment. Or just send you a virus. You'd be getting what you deserve.9. Facebook Albums: More drunken pictures are taken between Thursday evening and Sunday morning every week than any other time of the year. That's ok. You can take as many pictures of the same drunken peace signs and "model lips" as you want, but there should be a quota to how many you're allowed to upload to the Internet. And just FYI: flipping the camera off to look hardcore loses its rustic charm the very first time you do it.8. Adoption of Petz: This is along the same lines as uploading too many music videos. Maybe you think the cartoon penguin staring at me from your Web page is cute, but I think it's just creepy. Five minutes of upload time to simply see a badly drawn cartoon lion spin his head to follow my mouse cursor? I don't think so.7. Chain mail: If forwarding chain mail makes you feel more patriotic, more Christian, or like a better friend, that's fine. Just keep it out of my inbox, and certainly don't expect me to return the message just because it says at the bottom "if U don't send this on to 17 people including the person that sent it to U in the next 5 minutes Ur not a tru friend." Please.6. ~*Memories*~: Whether you saw it first on Myspace, Xanga, Facebook, or Livejournal, it's all the same. A desperate plea by desperate people for a recognition of pseudo-friendship. You know, just because someone remembers that awesome time that he or she held your hair back as you vomited eight Smirnoffs into the trash can and sobbed that daddy doesn't love you anymore, it doesn't necessarily mean that their your friend. It just means that they're bored and avoiding that Zoology report that's due, just like you.5. 14-year-olds: Not technically a Web trend, 14-year-olds (and specifically 14-year-old girls) made the list based upon sheer annoyance. Between tYpInG lIkE tHiS!!!!!11!!1! and leaving comments on 30-year-old band members pictures saying things like "oMg you are soooo hxc!" and "you boyz are hawt!" 14-year-olds have proven that it should require a license to get on the Internet. A license you aren't given until your 17th birthday. 4. Facebook feed: You might hate your ex-boyfriend, but you'll be able to keep tabs on him thanks to Facebook feed. Now any amateur stalker can know your every move, from who you were talking to today to whose house you were getting drunk at last Thursday. 3. Myspace bulletins: A 5-year-old girl with no eyes and four stumpy arms is not going to kill you in your sleep if you don't repost that bulletin. You can still believe in Jesus without posting 100 bulletins about it a day. And for goodness sake, please stop posting bulletins every time you change one tiny thing on your Myspace.2. Video blogs: Does this one even need explanation? Anyone who has ever seen even 2 seconds of LonelyGirl15 knows why video blogs are so high up in the countdown. Suddenly, thanks to YouTube, anyone with a cheap Web cam can get their 15 seconds of fame. No matter how many annoying videos of people lip-synching to Gwen Stefani there are out there, people always seem to think there needs to be more.1. hub.ou.edu: We here at the Hub were proud to be the Web site of 2006 that hated to love and loved to hate. Why else would we have made Mark Potts an editor?Now, with all that said, you must forward this article to 19 of your closest friends or a young boy with horns that is bleeding from a mouth will come claw you to death in your sleep. Oh, and if you don't, you're not a true American.Love the web trends Kendall hates? Have another web trend you hate that you think was mistakenly left out? Leave us a comment with your feedback about what we screwed up.



hello there & you too