Now I Can Make Chuck Norris Say What I Want Him to Say
Facebook Chat just became a little more fun to use.
Instead of those bland, boring, and generic little yellow faced emoticons, you can actually use the profile pictures of famous celebrities or anyone else on Facebook. So if you want to use Chuck Norris’s face in place of an emotion icon, you can do so.
Warning: Black Box Social Media does not endorse using the profile picture of Chuck Norris for your Facebook chat or messages. 70 years old or not, he can still kick our butts and we’re scared of him.
When I first heard of this service, my initial reaction was ‘Oh great, another Facebook privacy invasion‘. But being able to do this does fall within the guidelines of usage on Facebook. Profile pictures and usernames are public and there’s no way to opt out of having your face used.
Remember, social network sites is all about being social, so if you put up a profile pic, expect it to be used by the public.
Also, I quickly realized that I could use this function to tick off my friends. If my Dad used Facebook message, I could send him a photo of New York Jets Quarterback Mark Sanchez with a message of “I threw away any chance of winning a Super Bowl…again!” Or, in the example to the right, I can harass LA Lakers fans. I’m sure there’s a good way to utilize this new function, but I’ve yet to figure that out yet.
Facebook Chat | How to Use New Feature
Here are the simple steps to using this new Facebook Chat feature:
- Go to any profile, official Page, or event that you want to use as an emoticon.
- Look at the URL. Find the username or profile ID at the end of the URL such as “VinDiesel” from http://www.facebook.com/VinDiesel, “JoshConstine”, “cocacola”, or “45197362282″
- Place that name or number in double brackets like [[VinDiesel]]
- Enter that into a Facebook Chat or Message field. When you send it, the bracketed number or letters will appear as that person, Page, or event’s current profile picture. http://techcrunch.com/2011/12/25/facebook-custom-emoticons/
Facebook Chat | Problems With New Feature
While this new Facebook Chat feature can be fun, there are flaws that need to be addressed.
First, the emoticon that comes up is very small, and it’s really hard to tell who the person is. For example, in the pic above, you would have to enlarge to see that it was Kobe Bryant.
Second, you can only use this function in Message and Chat; you cannot use this when posting a message on Facebook. This limitation takes some of the fun out of this function.
What do you think of the new Facebook Chat feature that allows you to put Facebook profile pictures as emoticons in your Facebook Chat and Messages? Is this a feature you will use or just a waste of time? Leave your comments below.