To tie in with our front-page package about Facebook─happy birthday, guys!─NEWSWEEK's Sarah Frank picks the top spoofs of the social-networking site that YouTube has to offer. Be warned: a few clips are NSFW. Click to view!
"Facebook Manners and You"
This swell imitation of a 1950s educational filmstrip introduces us to Alice and her steady boyfriend, Timmy. Alice checks “The Electric Friendship Generator” from her “computing machine” and learns Timmy’s been making some suspicious updates to his profile. That’s a no-no, Timmy.
"Facebook Infomercial Parody"
USC students riff on Facebook’s many relationship-status categories to the catchy tune of Natalie Cole’s “This Will Be” (a.k.a. that song from the eHarmony dating-site ads).
"Facebook in Real Life"
British comedy sketch group Idiots of Ants imagine what it would be like if that kid you never really liked in middle school tried to be your friend in real life. (IGNORE!)
"A Slap in the Facebook"
If the thought of your grandmother bickering with a fellow octogenarian about who’s allowed to poke who makes you squeamish, just try to remember these are actors and your grandparents still have trouble with speed-dial, which probably means you’ll never encounter them on a social-networking site. (If you’re one of the unlucky few to have a grandparent on Facebook, maybe skip this video.)
"Facebook-Off"
CollegeHumor brings us the most overdramatized (yet equally hilarious) Facebook parody. Mimicking Face/Off, the 1997 action film starring John Travolta and Nicolas Cage, this spoof’s protagonist is so jealous of the big man on campus, he breaks into his Facebook profile in hopes of becoming him. (Cue intense movie-trailer music.)
"The Subterranean Facebook Blues"
This re-creation of Bob Dylan’s "Subterranean Homesick Blues" video isn’t the funniest spoof in the bunch, but earns points for a great impression of Dylan vocally, while also dropping those big white cards at just the right moments. Sample lyric: “It’s kinda like MySpace, without so many emos.”
"Facebook Song"
Be warned: this ode to Facebook by comedy duo Rhett & Link will undoubtedly be stuck in your head for the remainder of your membership on the site. Sample lyric: “It’s more than a want, it’s more than a need, I’d shrivel up and die without my mini-feed.”
"25 Things I Hate About Facebook"
In the Facebook rant to end all Facebook rants, comedian Julian Smith comes off as a charming curmudgeon as he lists his complaints in that ever-annoying "25 Things" format.
