The picture in question

ReShonda Tate Billingsley is a romance author of such books as Can I Get a Witness? and Holy Rollers.

It's not her writing that has people talking about her online, though, it's what's happened with her daughter.

Tate Billingsley's daughter posted a picture of herself on Instagram holding a vodka bottle with a sign saying, "Wish I could drink this."

Tate Billingsley saw it, gave her daughter a talking-to and then took another picture for Instagram: the daughter holding a sign saying, "Since I want to take pictures holding liquor, I'm obviously not ready for social media and will be taking a hiatus until I learn what is and isn't appropriate to post. Bye-bye."

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You'll have to get your $40 somewhere else, Zuckerberg.

Here's a scoop: Facebook is having an IPO today. This under-the-radar stock sale will make billions for investors.

Although everyone is keeping things on the down-low, the IPO means -- I'm guessing here, Wall Street is really not my forte -- that you can buy a share of Facebook stock, currently trading at about $40.

I've considered carefully the idea of doing so, and -- sorry, Mark Zuckerberg -- I must respectfully decline. The investment opportunity just doesn't feel right to me at the moment.

My ten reasons why:

10. I have discovered that even if I bought a share, I would not really have much of a say in the company. Zuckerberg will have 56 percent of the voting shares. If I can't push through a vote on banning FarmVille, what's the point?

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Dr. David Buck (l) and Lee Ann Womack at First Lady's Luncheon, Washington, D.C.

As founder and president of Healthcare for the Homeless -- Houston (HHH), Dr. David Buck is a busy man. So busy, in fact, he was taken aback when his office got a voice message from U.S. Representative Gene Green's wife Helen saying that she would like Dr. Buck to attend the Centennial First Lady's Luncheon in Washington, D.C. and "meet the First Lady."

"I was very skeptical," laughs Buck, whose organization sees 10,000 patients a year and has an annual budget of $2.5 million. "I thought some colleague must be playing a joke on me."

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Ted Cruz and FB: In a relationship.

With Facebook in the news for all types of political and financial reasons, different groups are looking at where the social-media giant spends its campaign cash.

According to influenceexplorer.com, the top recipient of campaign funds from individuals connected to Facebook is Barack Obama, not surprising since 83 percent of such funds went to Democrats.

Number two is New York Senator Kirsten Gillibrand and number three is...Texas Tea Party favorite Ted Cruz, running for the GOP Senate nomination.

There's not a ton of money involved -- Cruz got $7,500 to Obama's $59,632. Maybe they'll be more generous once they get their IPO checks.

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There are lots of annoying things about the various social networks that exist and plenty of reasons to think they are stupid. I've enumerated a number of those reasons on this very blog. But, with all things, there are people who will hate just to hate and sites like Twitter and Facebook often make themselves easy targets. Well, their users do anyway.

Still, there are some tremendous benefits to social media and it has, in fact, changed the way we all exchange information, often for the better. So, while there may be good reasons to poke fun at sites like Twitter and Facebook, there are also a lot of really dumb reasons to hate them. Here are five.

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App: Socialcam
Platform: iPhone, Android
Website: Socialcam.com
Cost: Free

Most of the time, this column is dedicated to actual apps that go on smartphones and while this is an app, it's also something else, but I'll hit the app part first for the purposes of being thorough.

Socialcam has positioned itself as the Instagram of video. For all intents and purposes, it's a social networking application that allows users to share videos taken with the phone and processed through its interface. The setup looks a lot like Instagram and the overall look and feel are comfortable, and it's easy to use. In fact, if this were all there was, I would say this is a damn fine app that works quite well, but that isn't the issue or the reason I have grown to truly hate Socialcam.

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We have some great commenters here on Hair Balls, and it's time we paid some damn attention to them.

So we'll be highlighting a Comment of the Day each morning, from the previous day's work. Maybe two comments, even.

This will all be determined by a highly rigorous scientific formula involving wit, clarity and whatever else we feel like at the moment.

We listed the five lamest rebuttals made in Web arguments, ranging from saying "I was just trying to push buttons" to blocking the person you're arguing with.

One reader said blocking is not always a sign that you've actually lost the argument.

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So many do

Lately, my colleagues here on the Houston Press blogs have posted some kind, helpful tips on proper usage of social media to help you avoid pitfalls in a world where employers regularly look you up.

That was sweet of them because I work with good people full of love and huggles (hugs + snuggles) for their fellow man. However, I am not one of those people. I'm an ass, and I have honed being an ass like Batman has honed himself to be the avatar of vengeance and the night incarnate.

Don't worry, I'm an ass for justice...a justass if you will, and while my costume may suck, my mission is pure. I find idiocy and bigotry on the Internet and I treat it exactly as I would treat meeting a zombie. The difference is that instead of caving in their skulls with a PS1 controller, I do it with words. Lately I even get paid to do it, like when 2nd-Amendment fanatics canonize George Washington or when people overstate the frugality of Harry Truman. Nothing shuts down an argument like having someone hand you a check for telling another person that they're wrong.

Still, I can't convince the editors that every tirade is worth some scratch, but I keep on in my mission anyway. Over the years I've come across some truly sad attempts to fight by people who just couldn't muster a real comeback. If you find yourself uttering any of the following, please do everyone and yourself a favor and admit you lost.

5. "I'm Just Trying to Push Buttons"

Used by: Attention seekers, racists, sexists, all other ists, phobes, etc.

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Yes, it's a real group. No, it's not funny.

As Facebook marches onward toward 1 billion users (yes, billion with a "b"), it is understandable that people make mistakes on the social networking monster. You know that thing where your friend joins Facebook and immediately starts sending you a hundred requests for Farmville because "It's so much fun!"? But that can be excused under the "newbie doctrine."

The problem is repeat offenders. You know them. They keep doing things over and over that make you cringe and force you to block their feeds. Often, they are high school friends you haven't spoken to in years. Other times, they are relatives you can't un-follow, but really, really want to.

For all of those people, here are five common mistakes they need to correct immediately. Post it on their walls. They will thank you later.

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No, I don't want the Guardian making posts for me on my page!

One of my favorite things about Facebook is the ability it provides users to share information. I tend to think of Facebook as a place to share articles, photos, videos and the like, whereas I view Twitter as a place to share some of the same things, but more often just random thoughts and musings. Facebook often becomes a repository for things I want to read myself or remember.

Unfortunately, as Facebook becomes more wary of these choices by its users, it tries to monetize them. In the case of news stories, that means the use of reader apps for major publications like The New York Times, The Guardian, The Washington Post and others. So, instead of clicking a link that takes me directly to a story, I'm sent to a page like the one above asking me if I want to install an app for that publication so that similar stories can be dropped into my feed.

The short answer: NO!

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