Failblog culture
Five years ago if you sent “worst hangover ever. FML” in a text message to a friend, you would probably receive a resounding “WHAT?” in response.
Coined by the liquor store employee in the 2007 comedy Superbad, the term “fuck my life” has made its way into the vocabulary of an entire generation and is now the name of the popular website fmylife.com
fmylife.com and other similarly inspired websites such as failblog.com, failbook.com, textsfromlastnight.com and of course the inexhaustible hilarity on youtube.com ultimately co-exist under the umbrella of sharing human experiences; oftentimes hilarious and embarrassing human experiences.
Connecting the masses
A fundamental characteristic of human existence is the need to feel connected, loved and understood. Individuals often seek out commonality to combat the unavoidable sense of loneliness that can make us feel isolated.
In the past, people have relied on nationalism, family ties, friendship, political stances and even unions to find a common ground with others and thus make themselves feel like part of a collective or community.
There has been a great deal of buzz in recent years about technology and its ability to facilitate the need for community. The Internet and cell phones certainly increase the individual’s ability to connect through the elimination of obstacles like distance and time.
Online forums such as failblog.com and textsfromlastnight.com play into this equation by providing a portal through which individual experiences can be linked to the world.
These websites have exploded onto the scene, redefining what is, and what can be successful on the Internet by sharing hilarious and honest human experiences that many can relate to.
This website allows you to air your own dirty laundry while commiserating with others over their own supremely unfortunate lives. Individuals share short stories that begin with “Today…” and end with “…FML.”
For example:
“Today, I was sitting in class and I fell asleep during the lesson. I was wearing sweatpants and had an erection. My teacher came up to me and grabbed my penis. She thought it was my phone. FML.”
“Today, my girlfriend dumped me proclaiming she wanted someone more like her “Edward”. I asked her who Edward was. She held up a copy of her Twilight book. She was talking about a fictional vampire. FML.”
“Today, my husband dropped me off at work. Ten minutes later I got a text saying ‘I just dropped the b*tch off I’ll be there in a few baby, miss you’. I asked him about it he said ‘I don’t know what you’re talking about Megan’. My name isn’t Megan. Not even close. FML.”
“Fail!” You might not be addicted to this word of the year, but surely you know people who are.
They don’t do well on their midterm: “fail.” They tumble down the stairs after a night drinking at the Turret: “epic fail.” Anything less than perfect is inevitably categorized as a “fail.”
If you have yet to waste time on this website, you should dedicate a few minutes to it. This collection of pictures and videos will have you dying of laughter, so try to avoid looking at it while you’re in class.
The new social application has become popular by allowing you to capture some of the most ridiculous things happening on your facebook. Advertised, “Everyone uses facebook, it takes someone truly special to use failbook” the new site is quickly growing in popularity.
Making fun of your friends’ absurd comments and status updates allows you to spread the ridiculous nature of facebook, the social network that encourages individuals to document the most trivial aspects of their daily lives.
failbook simply capitalizes on our most guilty pleasure by pointing out how ridiculous we all are.
youtube, the hugely successful video sharing website hosts infinite amounts of hilarity.
How often have you and your friends crowded around a computer to share your most recent finds? These videos have a way of travelling though social circles like fads on speed, growing in popularity then fading out.
Remember David after the dentist? Or the guy whose friends slingshot him out of a chair? How about Will Ferrell’s daughter Pearl playing an alcoholic landlord screaming “where’s my money!?” Who could forget the nerdy Star Wars kid?
That 14-year-old French-Canadian high school student’s name was Ghyslain Raza. He made a name for himself in 2002 after a video he made found its way onto the Internet. Thanks to some mischievous classmates, Raza’s imitation of Darth Maul drew millions of laughs around the world.
In addition to a $250,000 lawsuit filed by the boy’s parents, Raza’s high-energy imitation resulted in various spoofs on popular television shows including American Dad and Arrested
Development.Has it been too long since you’ve seen these beauties?
If you have ever woken up after a night of drunken debauchery to discover some very unusual texts in the sent and received folders of your phone, you will appreciate this site. Who doesn’t love sharing just how ridiculous things got last night?
“I just took a dump by candlelight. I feel like a pilgrim.”
“i got kicked out of Barns and Nobles cuz i put all the bibles in the fiction section.”
“so I was just driving high and I stopped to let a pinecone cross the road because I thought it was a hedgehog.”
“Sex on bubble wrap = best decision ever.”
“I bought a goldfish, named it after my ex-girlfriend, and let it die. It’s really the little things in life.”
We should all thank the people who have the presence of mind to remember these ridiculous moments and share them.
Electrician: I think I may have made a mistake.
Owner of office: Ya think so? What gave it away, the flames?
Boss: Hey, do you think you could go down to the cafeteria and get me one of those teeny tiny things of 1% milk for my cereal?
Intern: You know, with my dual degree from business school, I think I may be able to swing that…I’ll bring another intern as backup just in case.
Counselor: Is that a Tupac T-shirt? You’re five. Tupac wasn’t alive when you were born. What do you know about Tupac?
Kid: I know the haters killed him.
Counselor: Touché.
Manager: My new BM is awesome!
Subordinate: You mean BMW; the W is important.
Manager: Why?
The serious price of laughter
Yes, it is lovely that the world can be united through a common love of laughter and the recognition that everyone experiences misfortune at some point in his or her life. However, there will always be those cases where the laughter is not mutual; where the victim is very clearly being laughed at.
Videos posted online can go viral in a few hours, leaving little hope for the subjects of said video to escape instant fame, wanted or unwanted.
Long lasting negative repercussions are often the result in such cases. Remember the Saugeen stripper from the University of Western Ontario? After pictures surfaced of the first-year student giving a lap dance, life became so difficult for her that she was forced to leave the university.
And who could forget our beloved Star Wars nerd? His parents ended up filing a huge lawsuit against the parents of four children deemed responsible for the video’s exposure.
Posting a video on failbog.com or a short blurb on fmylife.com about your own ridiculous misfortunes is one thing. However, these days practically every piece of technology larger than a cracker comes with a camera feature, meaning you could be the next Saugeen stripper, angry
World of Warcraft kid or Star Wars nerd.
In the end, who doesn’t need a good laugh? Everyone has dark spots in their day and laughter can be a healthy way of getting over them.