F&#* Our Lives, Indeed: Swearing on Facebook, Patriot Style

The use of curse words in Facebook status updates is declining, new data shows. This gives us—and the Patriots—the dubious distinction of marking the peak usage of a certain f-word on the FB, in that infamous month of January 2008. Mentions of politics have decreased as well, following a massive peak in (duh) November 2008. And it seems that Harvard kids are up with the trends: FML was (ironically, considering the "decline" in swearing) the number two "term" used in status updates this year (note that Facebook sorted out many terms like "is" or "I"), leading us to wonder what exactly is so effable about everyone's lives. Maybe if we all spent more time living and less time Facebooking, we'd be better off? PREPOSTEROUS.

The hottest term of the year was anything farm-related: not due to the slow food movement or anything ambitious like that, but thanks to that virtual agricultural application, the pinnacle of human achievement: Farmville. Other hot topics included swine flu, celebrity deaths, families, movies, sports, and health care. And the only actual person (if you could call her that...) to make the list? Lady Gaga. 2009, we just don't know what to say. Maybe... FOL?