This past weekend Facebook profile pictures were being changed at an alarming rate to cartoon characters. Of course, while this was fun, Bumble knew it couldn’t be just for the sake of fun! Like all memes it must surely have an underlying sinister cause! Originally it was suggested that the change to a favorite cartoon character from your childhood was to show that you disagreed with child abuse.
Um. Really, let’s take a step back. Changing your Facebook profile pic was supposed to be an act of defiance against child abuse? Wow. What’s next? Wear your underwear on your head to show that you will not stand for rape?
The original idea for the human free profile pics seems to have stemmed from Greece in November. It was simply for fun. That makes sense, so it was immediately ruled out in the US. Something appears to have been lost in translation once the idea hit US Facebook though. Who knew? A viral social media meme may not have all it’s facts right? Astounding!
Exit stage left, stage right even!
Relax grandma, Bumble said viral not virus. You did not get a virus on your computer because you changed your profile picture to Snagglepuss. You should have, but you didn’t. The latest rumor has it that the idea was now started by a “group of pedophiles” in an effort to get everyone on Facebook to look like cartoons. Why?
Simple.
If we all had cartoon profile pics, lots of kids would add pedophiles as friends. Wait, that’s even dumber than doing it to prevent child abuse! How the hell could Bumble changing his profile to Azrael from the Smurfs allow a pedophile to gain access to a kid?!
Nevertheless, that’s the latest rumor. Which goes to show two things. First, Facebook is probably not a credible news source. Does Bumble really need to tell you that your Aunt Selma posting on facebook does not make something a well vetted fact? Apparently. Jeeez, at least get your news from The Daily Show or something.
Secondly, this latest round of Facebook non-scams proves that we are all sheep. No, it’s true. Bumble changed his picture to Azrael earlier today. Bumble isn’t going to lie. He was taken in too. Ok, not entirely. I mean, Bumble wasn’t a kitten yesterday. He knew that it had nothing to do with child abuse. It was fun though!
So was there any harm done? Let Bumble make this perfectly clear and nip any future rumors in the bud. NO! No children were harmed by you changing your picture. Your computer was not infected with child porn. The facebook page called “Change Your Profile Picture To A Cartoon Character (nspcc Charity) was not a front for NAMBLA (North American Man Boy Love Association). In fact, Bumble neither knows nor cares whether there really is such a charity as the NSPCC. There are charities out there that do want to help prevent child abuse. Can we possibly turn this meme into something good? Doubtful, but here goes. Rather than engaging in “slacktivism” like changing your profile picture, how about actually searching for reputable charities in your community? That sounds like a lot of work though and Bumble has an easier idea.
Post this picture as your profile pic to help raise awareness that Facebook campaigns are useless memes geared towards our sheep-like tendency to follow the flock. Bumble is doing it, and you should too!
In short, who really started the “scam” that was never a scam? We all did by complacently following the rest of the sheep. Join with Bumble in saying “Never Again!”
{ 17 comments… read them below or add one }
Bumble,
Is this the site of infidel nation? Or the site of Bumble? Or both? If I had time to read until all hours of the morning, I’d find it out myself. I decided this way I can go back to sleep.
Thanks for the clearing up of all the cartoon pic nonsense. I was using toons for my profile long ago, and I want it to mean that I like cartoons and nothing more. I’ll stay black for a day or two. Then I’ll go back.
Until next time
Susie
It’s Bumble’s site.
So it’s both.
So I’m not sure what the point of this is? are you trying to say that the people who changed their pic to a cartoon were wrong because they wanted to raise awarness? does it matter what they did it for? So another thing is I thought people under a certain age arnt even supose to have a facebook? So how does this rumor come out saying the predatores wanted this to access little kids?
No no! Bumble isn’t saying you are wrong for changing your pic if you did it to raise awareness. It’s also ok if you did it just for fun. There were a few points here. First don’t believe everything on facebook whether it was the original intent of the post or the follow up rumors that pedophiles started the whole thing. Secondly changing your picture on fb didn’t hurt anyone (some people were concerned that it would give their computer a virus). Finally raising awareness is nice but hopefully everyone will look into supporting local charities and find more active ways to engage in causes they feel are important to them.
It was a good excuse to show off one of my favorite anime characters. Who cares how it started? It’s the same reason why all politicians get behind anti-pedophile measures–nobody likes a pedophile and politicians look good. Maybe money got donated to some abused child support organization, or some other good will come from this. IMHO “sheep” watch sports instead of helping their community and improving themselves. Bumble does not really know how the universe works all the time, even if he thinks he does . . .
No Bumble doesn’t really know all that much. Cut him some slack as he is a three year old cat. :p Thanks for the comment and Bumble agrees with you. Who cares who started it. It was just a silly bit of fun and at least people were thinking about a real issue over the weekend. Did you take Bumble’s suggestion and change your profile pic to the new image he provided?
Wasn’t the profile photo change merely to raise awareness to child abuse? I think it did its job if that’s the case.
Actually nobody really knows if it started with a purpose or not. The message on facebook kept mutating throught the last few days. It did to sone degree raise interest in preventing child abuse though. I think that’s a nice positive takeaway from this. Bumble noticed a few friends on his facebook posted local charities that would be happy for any help. Awesome.
To me the whole cartoon character campaign wasn’t a big deal, some of my friends were doing it, and I figured I hadn’t changed my FB profile pic in a while, so I found a pic of a toon I liked when I was a kid (a manic-looking Daffy Duck) and put it up.
The uproar about this reminds me a little of the whole Bush – Obama thing. It’s like changing your FB profile pic somehow magically “curing” child abuse is like Obama being expected to magically fix all the various crap started by his predecessor in the oval office.
Certainly donating some cash or volunteering with organizations are more active ways of resolving the terrible truth of child abuse, but I can understand how people can see the whole change your profile pic thing as laughably slack activism… if they never do any activism themselves, in the REAL world.
Exactly! Awesome reply! Thanks!
you are a complete jerk
I’m rubber and you’re glue…
pointless or not, I thought that it was just for fun. and I enjoyed doing it. However, if you think that we’re all sheep for posting our favorite cartoons, wouldnt all of us posting your picture instead for a few days be equally sheepish??
Dex- I guess if you change your pic to the one Bumble provided you’d be following Bumble like a sheep. But that makes Bumble the shepherd and Bumble thinks that is cool! Uh, or maybe Bumble was being ironic and you caught him.
Kids shouldn’t be even owning a Facebook anyways. Let’s you know that parents don’t really care what their kids do anymore. Facebook isn’t myspace, you don’t just add random people. Facebook wouldn’t let me add my friend Jakers because it said he lives in Hawaii. How on earth do you know it was made by a pedofile & not some father or mother who lost their child towards child abuse? This article your post seems just as lame.
As always an excellent article Bumble. Once again you pointed out how ridiculous certain statements/arguments can be. You looked at both sides and pointed out the stupidity on both sides. I was one of the people who changed my profile picture to a cartoon character because I thought it would be fun (and it was seeing all my friends cartoon character choices; I was never under any illusion that by doing so I was helping prevent child abuse (IMHO a shot gun would be a far better way of helping this!). Then for some to say that by doing so you were helping pedophiles all over the world get their ‘victims’ is just laughable; firstly if anyone friends someone just because they like the cartoon character choice, then well, what can I say … LOSER!!! Both my kids have FB and neither are allowed to friend anyone they don’t know in real life, and even then, they have to have my approval to fiend them or accept a friend request from them. If a child friends a stranger due to their cartoon character choice, then seriously their parents need to review their parental skills and child’s awareness of the dangers of the internet.
This whole ‘cartoon character profile picture’ was a bit of fun! Okay maybe it should not have been done stating that it would help child abuse; that is just crazy, and as previous posters have suggested, helping a real cause would be far more effective.
To Rose, who called Bumble a complete jerk, obviously your post took a lot of thought and a great deal of time out of your day – great job at showing us all how ‘intelligent people’ respond to well thought out observations!
Purrrrrrrrrr
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