David Schembri
For the shear fun of it
The curly locks of 17-year-old student Simon Mallia may soon be standing on end in fear, as more than 8,500 people have so far ganged up to see them being chopped off.
A group on the social networking site Facebook called "Simon Mallia must shave his hair if 10,000 people join this group" has so far reached over 8,500 members - all within less than two weeks of its creation.
The group, whose aim is cheekily listed as "gardening", was started during one of those inspiring activities - pure mathematics private lessons - where Luke Gauci and Darren Buttigieg, friends of Mr Mallia, conspired to create a group where if 500 people joined, Mr Mallia would have to shave his hair.
"Simon was too in love with his hair to accept, so we finally managed to find a compromise at 10,000 people," Mr Buttigieg mischievously recounts.
By the end of the lesson, they had a contract drafted which stated:
"I hereby agree to cut my hair to an average length of around 1 to 2 mm upon the accomplishment of the target that 10,000 people join the group created on the social networking site Facebook titled 'Simon Mallia must shave his hair if 10,000 people join this group'. This feat of shaving the hair must be fulfilled within one week of the accomplishment of the above-mentioned target." Mr Mallia signed, with five of his friends as witnesses.
It seems that Mr Mallia grossly underestimated the power of social networking and the hard work of his mates, because within 24 hours of the group's inception it had already shot to over 1,000 members, with people forwarding it to all their friends, regardless of whether they knew Mr Mallia or not.
The group, at http://tinyurl.com/locks-off , now numbers 8,504 members from Malta and abroad, which makes it one of the largest locally based groups on the popular social networking website.
Malta-based groups which are larger include "Can we get all Malta in one Facebook group?" at 17,326 members and "Can we find 30,000 Maltese Facebook users?" at 9,551 members.
When contacted for comment, all Mr Mallia had to say was "I would never have expected this."
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22 Comments
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Christian Sciberras
Nov 1st 2009, 19:31
@Darryl Gouder - You've no idea.
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,537653,00.html
http://www.allfacebook.com/2009/08/facebook-downtime-issues/
Getting networks to work together without a hitch is a constant battle.
People don't know about this since they take things for granted.
Tanja Cilia
Oct 27th 2009, 15:32
By communal shaving I meant having every single membner of a group shave off his hair as a sign of solidarity with a person who was 'made' to do it. I did not mean "in a public environment".
Incidentally, "Things started getting uncomfortable, however, when people who did not know Mr Mallia started joining the group, exposing him to a notoriety which was new to him...." explains it better than I ever could.
As for asking about whether or not I do have a sense of humour, I will leave that judgement to the people who know me, not to those who assume they do, through reading what I write. It's just that I do not find puerility funy, at all.
Darryl Gouder
Oct 22nd 2009, 18:00
@Tanja Cilia "1. "...a simple act of camaraderie" would have had all the members of the group do a communal shaving, immaterial of how hirsute a person is, don't you think? Why pick on just one member of a group? "
Yes Tanja it was going to be a communal shaving, it was actually going to be a whole reunion for our secondary year as we had agreed to organize something to meet up and do it there. You expected us to shave him at the JC foyer -.- ? If you've actually seen the group you'll also notice that other people actually started other similar groups albeit a wee bit different but all the same. We were not the first Maltese facebook group about shaving someone's head and we won't be the last.
Your accusations and comments greatly amuse me, I ask: when was the last thing something simple actually made you smile?
L.Gauci
Oct 22nd 2009, 15:15
@ Marco Abdilla - X popolarita hadna marco ... ahna amilnija biss bhala imhatra u hadd minna ma haseb li qatt seghtet tikber daqs hekk. Jien qas 1000 members ma hsibt li nistghu nilhqu. Biss Simon beda ihossu wisk stressed u hekk minhabba il fatt li ma baqghatx ta bejnietna u saret xi haga kbira hafna. Allura ax KOLLA kem ahna HBIEB TA VERU hassejna li is sentimenti ta persuna huma aktar importanti minn imhatra u ghalekk inaghlaq il group u mhux ghax ma nirispetawx lil kull min prova jghinna ...
Tanja Cilia
Oct 22nd 2009, 15:10
1. "...a simple act of camaraderie" would have had all the members of the group do a communal shaving, immaterial of how hirsute a person is, don't you think? Why pick on just one member of a group?
2. "...the 8500+ members..." include friends of friends of friends.
Marco abdilla
Oct 21st 2009, 23:08
Nhossni offiz li dawn in-nies li holqu l-grupp ... ghalqu l-grupp ghax qalu li din kienet cajta bejn il-hbieb li kibret wisq.
Ghalija din hija SCAM u hasra li nies bhal dawn wara li hadu l-popolarita ma taw kas hadd.
MACCABI HAIFA
Oct 21st 2009, 21:52
A person reveals his character by nothing so clearly as the joke he resents - Georg C. Lichtenberg
Graham Crocker
Oct 21st 2009, 21:42
I'm starting to feel really bad about joining this group hehe
Giancarlo Refalo
Oct 21st 2009, 21:03
@ Tanja Cilia...
Bullying? COME ON!!! It's all good fun and in good spirit. I detest it when people like yourself try to find an ulterior motive to what is a simple act of camaraderie!
Grow down!!
Paul Vella
Oct 21st 2009, 20:46
@K.Pullicino
Naqbel mieghek siehbi. Ma nafekx imma nista' nghid li int u shabek nies tal-genn. Hekk irridu min ikolna f'dan il-pajjiz fejn hlief zghazah jinqerdu ma jissemmewx. Kieku kont nghallem fl-iskola taghkom kont ninghaqad maghkom jien ukoll ghax daqskom ghadni 'nhobb nidhaq dahqa.
Prosit siehbi.
Simon Mallia
Oct 21st 2009, 18:23
QATT u QATT u QATT ma predendejt li kienet ha tasal s' hawnhekk :O...
plss noel darren luke u kulhad iehor li qed jikkumneta...enough promotion :(
Darryl Gouder
Oct 21st 2009, 17:55
@Tanja Cilia Indicating that such a group is bullying him is absurd. I'm one of the administrators of the Facebook group and one of Simon's close friends and to be honest no one will ever bully Simon Mallia... regardless of who they are he is not the type of person to be bullied but to befriended by everyone. This group was simply a humorous gesture of our view of his hair (something which has been debated for years at Secondary School and which is iconic to Simon) and although I feel its mentioning in national news is a mistake I can only say that it has portrayed us making use of today's technology in an actually fun way...
@Christian Sciberras -> Dude... network engineers worrying about network consumption? I think you really should read up on Malta's Internet situation and have a look at other countries' statistics. If you're a news reader, you'll know we fare quite badly: http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20091001/local/bqs
Tomorrow's News Headline: Facebook closes due to high bandwidth consumption yeah right -.-
Miguel Muscat
Oct 21st 2009, 17:55
BIS-SENS eh guys.
A-W-E-S-O-M-E-!-!
U plssss ... min ha jkun hemm meta jqaxxar xaru ... pllsss hudu photos ?? pls =]
ahahaha
Matthew Carbonaro
Oct 21st 2009, 16:25
Kburi nghid li Simon huwa wiehed mill-akbar hbieb tieghi u li mhux biss huwa habib tal-genn izda li kull meta nkun mieghu cert li ha jifqani bid-dahk b'xi cajta jew kummiedja tieghu - nahseb li Darren, Luke Gauci u kull minn jafu jaqblu mieghi.
Jien bhala wiehed li ghandi xaghri nokkli wkoll u li naf x'igifieri jkollok xaghrek kbir u sabih ma nahsibx li kont niehu gost li kieku kelli nqaxxar xaghri jien (b'hekk ma kontx niffirma l-kuntratt :P) u cert li jekk jasal iz-zmien fejn Simon "ikollu" jqaxxru mhux ha jiehu gost.
Ma nistax nimmaginah b'xaghru mqaxxra u ma rridux jaqtaw...
K. Pullicino
Oct 21st 2009, 15:11
I personally know Darren, Luke, Simon and the others. They're some of the greatest people around and I've been following what's been happening since its inception.
I have no idea how Ms. Cilia suggested bullying without knowing how the 8500+ members in the group are connected.
Funny though, how we would find this to be more concerning than having our youth discussing whether they should implement a condom machine on campus, the fact that the number of young people who are smoking or doing drugs is rising, or how the number of young single mothers is also on the increase...
Luke Gauci
Oct 21st 2009, 14:48
@ Tanja Cilia - Ma nistax nifhem fejn tista tara li hemm xi tip ta bullying involut. Ahna lil Simon ilna nafuh madwar 7 snin u nista nghid li hbieb kbar konna, adna u ha nibqghu. Din kienet just imhatra bejn il hbieb wara lesson tal-maths ... ghal xiex ma andux ikun hemm naqa gost fil-hajja u xi cajt l'hem u l'hawn. Kellna ovjament il permess ta Simon biex namlu dan kollu u hu dahal ghalija minghajr hadd ma sfurzah. Ahna dhalna ghalija b'ruhna u gisimna u nista nghid li hadmet.
Tanja Cilia
Oct 21st 2009, 14:04
I fully understand the logic behind shaving one's hair in solidarity with someone who is undergoing chemotherapy. But this instance reeks of bullying, and perhaps envy, too. Why did this person allow himself to be coereced into signing this agreement - and, worse, how is it that so many people, most of whom probably are not acquainted with any one of the youths involved, were ready to support this prank?
Marc Alan Spiteri
Oct 21st 2009, 13:52
PROSIT SIMON! ISSA LA DEHERT FUQ IT-TIMES, TRID TAQTA' XAGHREK LIVE FUQ IT-TVM!!!!
Noel Darmanin
Oct 21st 2009, 12:41
Jien, bħal dak li kkummenta qabli, ilni naf 'il Simon minn ftit qabel ma beda jtawwal xagħaru (i.e. xi 7 snin). Tul dawn is-seba' snin, għaddejt minn martirju kbir sabiex naqra dak li jkun hemm miktub fuq il-'board'; dan kollu minħabba il-magħrufa guffaġni ta' xagħar Simon. Għalhekk nixtieq nappella lil kulħadd sabiex jidħol f'dan il-grupp. Grazzi mill-qalb.
Darren Buttigieg
Oct 21st 2009, 12:33
L-ewwelnett, nixtieq nirringrazzja lit-timesofmalta.com tal-appoġġ li tawna permezz ta' dan l-artiklu. Jiena kburi li ngħid li jien il-kreatur ta' dan il-grupp, u f'isem sħabi nixtieq ngħid grazzi kbira mill-qalb lil dawk kollha li qegħdin jgħinuna sabiex aħna nilħqu l-għan tagħna mill-aktar fis possibli.
Personalment, ħadd minna ma kien qiegħed jistenna rispons daqshekk kbir, u nkompli nħeġġeġ 'il kulħadd, anke 'il min ma jafx min hu Simon, sabiex jingħaqad magħna f'dan il-ġest ta' solidarjetà mal-qurriegħa ta' Simon! xP
Christian Sciberras
Oct 21st 2009, 12:23
Great news!
What next, talking guinea pigs?
Really, it just shows that 8,500 people simply doesn't have anything else better to do on the Internet.
And network engineers worrying about bandwidth consumption... what a joke.
Paul Vella
Oct 21st 2009, 11:30
Hekk helwin iz-zghazah u hekk nistennew minghandhom: spontanjeta u gost bis-semplicita tal-hajja. Mhux li kien l-sipirtu taghhom jibqa' ghal dejjem. Inzertajt ghalliem tal-Pure Maths u nista' nifhem li b'xi mod dawn l-istudenti jkunu jixtiequ jinqataw mill-monotonija, ghalkemm lili l'matematika tnissilli wiehed mill-akbar gosti tal-hajja!