Anyway, stuck in this frustrating low volume space I have been doing lots of thinking - I've been doing lots of crafting too but that'll keep for now.
I tend to be a bit slow on the uptake of many things so it's not at all surprising that I am relatively new to Facebook. In addition to being slow on the uptake there was also a considerable period when I was aware of it but just wasn't quite sure. I suppose I've never been quite sure for lots of reasons but I just started pondering that again today.
I know that Facebook and other similar sites can be useful in some business networking scenarios. They can also help you to track down people who you may otherwise have never regained contact with - which is great. But at what cost?
Facebook and the other sites are businesses. What kind of business? What's their product? How are they making their money?
Could we be forgiven for thinking that Facebook et al represent capitalism gone mega crazy? Trading not in friendship and reunions but collecting information and matching it with businesses making everyone a sitting target for sophisticated marketing. Encouraging us not to connect with people we know in a direct form but rather sitting alone at a screen tapping away at a keyboard. Eroding many aspects of community in the process of creating a new community - a community which operates in a way in which some folks make wads of dosh!
I don't know. I'm still thinking. If you have ever thought about this (or are thinking about it now) then have a look at this article. It explains lots of points much better than I could.
I hope my throat feels better tomorrow. All this quiet thinking is giving me brain ache!
10 comments:
Not jus t me then! I don't like facebook at all, I did join but escaped very quickly!!
HOpe you feel better soon.
A. xx
No it's not just you :-)
I'm still there mainly because there are a couple of people who that seems to be the only way I can communicate with them - if I could see a way round that I think I'd leave. I may leave any way as I do feel 'odd' at best about it - even if I have been on there tonight and made more friends.
Brilliant post, and you're absolutely right about the advertising - that's where their money comes from and it's targetted in the most cynical way. I've been on and off Facebook for a while now. I join up, and then it gets too much so I de-activate - at the moment I'm on again, but not sure for how long! I start to feel a bit "exposed" after a while and feel the need to retreat again.
I KNOW. (said in Monica from Friends voice (sorry if you're not a Friends person, it is one of Rick's obsessions, and there are worse things he could get into))
I joined somehow, no idea how, but don't like it AT ALL. For ages an old friend kept sending me pokes and nudges and invitations it drove me up the wall,how very dare she, but I think I've taken most of myself off it. I'm just not made for that kind of thing.
A few people whose blogs I used to enjoy have vanished off to Facebook. Ah well.
Look forward to seeing the crafting you've been doing. Hope the voice recovers soon - try not to whisper, it causes more damage.
E
xx
Yeah, I just don't get all that poke and nudge business.
I clicked something the other day and my face book page now states that I am ready to send stickers to my friends. I followed the link out of curiosity and along side loads of cutie stuff and utter tosh was also what I would consider to be quite harcore porn witht the message 'punishment' - and this is from a site who ban pictures of breast feeding. I feel another rant coming on .....
Thanks Claire, for that very informative article and your interesting post. It has really made me think a lot more deeply about my facebook activities! I've always avoided all the invitations and requests to add 'applications' mainly because I don't really understand how they work!
Hope you are feeling better x
eek , dare i say I love it lol, i only do the messaging thing though not all the other bits that baffle me.
I guess same as the kids on Bebo n stuff , it is what you make it, it's like reading and tv watching we need to be selective, critical readers, discerning users rather than passive.
just been mulling this over, I guess adverts and marketing is everywhere though, i guess the adverts make it a free service for all of us same as google , if the adverts weren't there wouldn't we have to pay instead? i just ignore tha adverts now , they're just like confetti . . . not arguin at all , just thinking out loud.
I know a lot nicer people on here than i know in the real world anyway lol I even found my hubby on here lol xx
Like some of the others, I joined and then left pretty quickly. Any friends from when I was a child that I want to stay friends with are still in my life now, thankyou very much. I don't want to re-unite with the ones that ignored me back then!
I like facebook, mainly because it's a way of keeping up with a few friends I no longer see, but I like some of the games. I do think I should be more aware of what information I put out but it's also a great business tool, along with Twitter
Post a Comment