1. When I was really little, I had a homemade doll named Katie Bay. When I was four, I got mad at her and bit her crocheted foot, which pulled out my first tooth. I’m not sure why I was mad at her at that specific moment, but I do know that at one point, I was convinced she had kicked me off the bed.

2. My all-time favorite show is Joan of Arcadia. In the height of my obsession, I wrote, filmed and edited a short mockumentary about my obsession for a film class, which I also starred in as an over-exaggeration of myself.

3. From September 2006 to August 2007, I had two cell phones at the same time, both on contracts. It seemed like a good idea at the time.

4. When I was four or so, I won a real white rabbit and named her Fluffy Bunny Wunny Foo Foo.

5. I once laughed for two full hours straight.

I think you get the point. You would be surprised at what you can learn about your friends through the latest Facebook phenomenon.

We’ve all seen survey-style notes on our Facebook news feeds, designed to help you get to know your friends. They’re often the same ones we’ve also received through e-mail for years. But usually, only a handful of people pass them on or steal them from their friends, often ignoring the “obligation” to pass a note on if they’ve been tagged. This note, however, has taken Facebook by storm.

At least 79 of my Facebook friends have done it. This includes an almost 60-year-old woman who runs a health food store in my hometown, as well as my 16-year-old cousin, and my eighth-grade drama teacher. Titles include the obvious “25 Random Things,” as well as “The Epidemic of 25 Random Things,” “25 random things madness continues,” “25 reasons to procrastinate... or something like that,” and “Let’s pretend she’s not conforming.”

What makes this note different from all the others is its simplicity. Unlike all the other quiz notes, this one has no intrusive questions to answer. Better yet, there are no questions to answer, period. All you have to do is make a list of 25 random facts about yourself and tag 25 friends. You can be as personal, or stay as secretive as you want. It’s both harder than it sounds, and more rewarding than you’d expect.

The lack of intrusive, personal questions is having quite the opposite effect, however. People are being extremely honest. I’ve learned more from reading these lists than I ever did by reading whether so-and-so prefers chocolate or vanilla, or what their relationship status was last Valentine’s Day.

I’ve learned that one friend started eating plain coffee beans at age two or three, while another can’t go to the gym without brushing her teeth. I now know to keep one of my friends away from jeans and hoodies if they’re on sale, and to keep another friend away from red wine because she’s allergic. One friend met her husband on Hot or Not.com after doing a research paper on the website for an English class, while another friend thinks that Chad Kroeger is the anti-Christ.

And to think Facebook has been criticized for making friendships more impersonal.

Maybe all people needed was this little bit of distance in order to open up. I personally don’t care if friends prefer chocolate or vanilla, or that their favourite colour is orange; it’s their fears and dreams, their most embarrassing moments, biggest regrets and childhood memories that really define them. These are also the things that don’t usually come up in general conversation.

That said, I am officially tagging every single one of you to sign on Facebook right now and make your own list of 25 random things.