After thinking about it for awhile, I can empathize with Marky Z’s ongoing nerd battle with Twitter, reminiscent of my most inferior (yet, in retrospect, comedic) memories of High School.

Reading Mashable‘s discussion of Facebook’s latest “me too”- the Retweet- I mean, “via” feature, it is so obviously an attempt to remain the most popular kid in school,  it’s not even funny.  Well actually, it is friggin hilarious.

Screenshot courtesy: Mashable.com

I was a nerd once too.  A band nerd to be exact.  As an awkwardly anti-social teen, I didn’t have much going for me as far as social skills, but with time and talent, managed to secure a position as First Chair Clarinet, thinking I was “all that” for over two years straight!   Then one day out of the blue some frumpy girl from the Midwest comes along and within weeks, takes the First Chair position.  *MY* First Chair position!   That hurts!  Especially when its the only thing you’ve got going for you!

Most people under 30 might not even know how Facebook came about, or that it was Zuckerberg’s sheer nerdiness and desire to get chicks that brought the social powerhouse into existence. (No worries- the Facebook Movie is coming out soon enough. No- really).   So while on the surface it seems as if Facebook is simply copying other companies’ best features either due to a lack of imagination or out of an attempt to stay dominate in the social networking space, there are those- including me, who can see the true motivation behind many of the decisions made over there at Facebook HQ:

A battle to be the most popular nerd in school.

When whatsherface stole my first chair position I fought back the only way I knew how- I became a drummer.  Because drummers are cool.  Fortunately I was actually good at it, much like Marky is good at programming.  However, I didn’t have the acquired hubris of Marky, so when it came time to fight for Drum Captain I let someone else grab that spot.  Perhaps I would have made a better Captain, but frankly, I didn’t care that much.

Zucky on the other hand, reminds me of the nerd with just enough self-esteem and ego that he isn’t going down without a fight, determined to win a silly popularity contest no matter how stupid he looks.   No worries Marky-  I’ve been there. I understand.  Good luck with that.

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