Top 10 Overshared Items on Formspring.me
Posted at 5:00 AM Jan 13, 2010
By Tolly Moseley
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So chirps the seemingly harmless dialogue box that welcomes you into the addictive world of Formspring.me. Have you heard of it yet? Well, get ready. The latest guilty pleasure of social media, Formspring.me is a little bit like a confession booth at church, especially if your church resembles the opening scenes of Fight Club. It's dark. A little seedy. And downright teeming with titillating, overshared and highly personal information. I just registered!
Right now, Formspring.me seems to appear to two very specific demographics:
A) Manhattanites who write for Gawker, Mediaite or hip Tumblr blogs,
B) People in junior high school.
As a result, navigating the site is a little bit like peering into the minds of witty, urbane, David Sedaris-reading writers on the one hand, and 13-year-old girls on the other hand. Some are brilliant, some couldn't write themselves out of a YouTube comment.
Once you register, you create a minimalist profile, which basically includes one picture, your location, a mini-bio in limited characters à la Twitter and a link to your homepage. Floating up at the very top is that innocent little question box--"ask me anything!"--where people drop off questions for you. You can choose which ones to answer and post, and, in addition, you can search for other people and ask them questions anonymously.
Or, skip all that and lurk around creepily like just I did. Reading about people's hopes and dreams and texture of their toenail clippings and whatnot.
Here are the top ten most overshared items that I've unearthed from Formspring's depths, a brief sampling of items your fellow internet users would like you to know about them. True to form(spring), each point is written in Q&A format. We've kept them anonymous, but! All questions and answers are reprinted as they appear on the site, from thoughts on the sex patterns of lions to internet goss on Julia Allison. Enjoy!
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10. What did you do today?
"I got my period but it got on my friend."
9. What celebrity would play you in a movie about your life?
"Seth Green, we are related to each other but I am taller and I don't know about other bodily differences."
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8. If you could be an animal, which would you be and why?
"I would be a lion because they have nuclear families. However I feel that male lions have best situation because they go to sex female lion once, and she is loyal to him forever, and then when it is time for him to hit the road like men need to do sometimes he can go find another gentle companion. In this way the male lion has all of the qualities that I would like, gentle relationship but also, independence. King of the Road."
7. Trying again...what the hell is this and why didn't you answer my text the other night and why do I miss you so much and how the hell do I get back here to see your answer?
"I love you Rommi*. I am e-mailing you right now."
6. If you could wave a magic wand and make one thing go away, what would it be?
"My nipple that is shaped like a heart."
Comments
I'm not sure it's the case, but lula is portuguese for calamari.
Posted 01/13/2010 at 08:40:00 AMI like number 3, because I have dumbass dreams like that too. Confession time! I dreamed once that I was starring in a movie based upon a Tennessee Williams play; not an actual play, but one my mind devised. Everyone, including me, had crappy Southern accents (which is silly because I AM Southern). Anyway, I was starring with Michael Keaton (!) and it was a sex scene in a pool--he was teaching me to swim. The whole time the dream me was thinking "Do I look good? Is this my good side? I hope I look okay naked."
No, I didn't have a follow-up dream that took place at the Academy Awards.
Posted 01/13/2010 at 12:42:41 PMAm I wrong for thinking #8 and #1 should hook up? They seem like they deserve each other. ;)
I'm also a bit confused about your beginning statement. In my experience it's the Gawker writers who more closely resemble 13 year-olds who couldn't write their way out of a YouTube comment. While some of the teens online are so afraid of being dismissed as immature and rude that they work extra hard to be witty, polite and insightful. Though maybe I just misread that part. ;)
Posted 01/13/2010 at 01:00:42 PMHey now E and O! I'm a Gawker contributer! :)
Posted 01/13/2010 at 03:27:06 PMHey E and O! Good point about the teens working hard to be witty. And you know, in many corners of the internet, the kids ARE alright. (Style Rookie, anyone?)
The teens that we are referring to here are the ones on Formspring that ask each other why they are ugly, why they are a loser, why they are such a slut, etc. Except written as such: "Y r u uglllyy?! Ur slutteeee 2!" Things like that.
Kiala (and E and O): The fact that I shed tears of joy when Richard Lawson reassumed his post as Real Housewives recap/fan fiction writer on Gawker should tell you how I feel about the site.
Admiral: Ok so, I think we need to make this sex scene with you and Michael Keaton in a pool happen somehow. It can be the remake of Wild Things (not to be confused with Where the Wild Things Are....as that would be a different, and altogether more disturbing, sex scene entirely).
Marina: Duly noted! Thank you! I was thisclose to starting a Lula rescue effort.
Posted 01/13/2010 at 03:53:47 PMFormspring is my personal new addiction.
It's not cool. It ruins your life. It turns your blog into one long inanity.
Safety first!
Posted 01/13/2010 at 03:59:23 PMTolly, your wish is my command. Somebody get Michael Keaton on the phone and I'll start trying to tone my flabby ass. I haven't seen him in a while so he might need to tone his flabby ass also. Surely we can get this epic released this summer, no one would dare prevent it.
Posted 01/14/2010 at 07:44:35 AMTOLLY- OMG I LOVE RICHARD LAWSON. HE IS A GENIUS. /capslock
Posted 01/14/2010 at 10:28:02 AM