• by Jessica , October 29, 2010

On Monday morning, the tornado sirens in Muncie shattered the blustery air with wild wailing. I was ushered into the basement of the building I was working in, where I waited about 20 minutes for the storm to pass. I played chess on my computer to pass the time. I won two out of six matches.

Not even an hour after the storm had passed, I came across an "I survived the BSU Tornado 2010" Facebook group. Students were already sharing their tornado survival stories – some quite elaborate, considering no actual tornado touchdowns were confirmed. As of three days later, the page has 2,105 likes and a freshly Photoshopped profile picture.

I laughed when I saw this page. But I was struck by my generation’s immediate tendency to share our lives digitally. The Internet has altered how we think. When the kids of my generation snap goofy pictures, we’re not thinking about putting them in a photo album – we’re saying, “I hope you know this is going on Facebook!” When we have big news, be it a new romance or a killer test tomorrow, we don’t call all our friends – we text them or update our statuses. We think digitally. We live digitally.

Maybe that’s why there are so many crazy Facebook groups or pages to “like.” Here are a few of the weirdest ones I’ve come across:

Physics doesn’t exist, it’s all gnomes.
84,131 members
Who took the time to write out that “Info” tab? That’s some serious thinking about gnomes.

Team “Guy Who Almost Hit Bella With a Car”
138,979
I’m not a Twilight fan. And I support this group.

National Hug a Stressed Architecture Student Day
6,483 attending
Ball Staters, you’ll appreciate this. Remember this on Nov. 29.

We look so sexy in our lab coats, we need safety goggles… for protection.
33,696 members
Whatever you need to tell yourself to get through the day, I guess.

National Be a Creeper Day (2010 Edition)
225,982 attending
As if the world isn’t creepy enough already… still, this page made me chuckle.