So stop using his image as your profile photo.

It started happening the day after Steve Jobs’s death was announced: the widespread use of Steve’s image as Twitter and Facebook profile pictures. It was mostly done by people who like playing follow-the-leader on social networks, the same kind of people who copy and paste Facebook statuses, the same kind of people who mostly retweet what others have already said because they can’t think of anything original that’s interesting enough to share. People who lack imagination, people who think they can best express themselves by copying what other “cool” people are doing and saying.

And as one of the Apple faithful, as someone who bleeds in six colors — and has been around long enough to know what that actually means — I’m offended by the practice.

I’m especially offended by the fact that it continues, more than a week after Steve’s passing. If it isn’t Steve’s face staring out at me beside the mindless automated tweet of someone who isn’t Steve, then it’s Steve’s profile as the bite in a black Apple logo, a design only marginally less offensive, beside the latest Facebook copy-and-paste status update.

Yeah, we get it. You’re a fanboi and you miss Steve. But is this how you honor him? By abusing his image?

Do you think that’s what Steve would really want? To brand your social networking babble with his likeness?

You should be ashamed of yourself.