Surprise, Surprise, Surprise - with Apologies to Gomer Pyle | Eastern North Carolina Now

   This article is the result of the numerous post I get on Facebook which encourage me to Like, Share, or Comment. It drives me crazy but I guess I should take it as a compliment that so many people value my opinion, particularly those I do not know or don't know me. If you agree with me click on below to register your opinion.

Surprise, Surprise, Surprise -Apologies to Gomer Pyle

    Social media has conditioned us all into making instant decisions on the whim of the moment. Almost every medium of the electronic media has a feature to Like, Share, Comment, or Copy which allows the reader to engage in the process. It is an attempt to entice you into action while you are still in the "EMOTIONAL MOMENT." Apparently the biggest danger to our society is any tendency to contemplate one's actions before taking such action.

    Well with apologies to Gomer Pyle, SURPRISE you don't really have to do any of those things to engage or register you opinion. The hidden secret is that you can just pass on by without making a comment or even acknowledging that you read the post.

    What you may not know it that by merely clicking on the title to see what the article is all about, you are registering your interest in the article or the author. You also start a clock which tracks how long you stayed on the page after you clicked on it. Quickly leaving the page after you wake up and realize you accidently clicked on a Bobby Tony article will be counted as a "I don't care what he says, I just don't like that guy." Or something like that. For that reason, I have included a dislike icon on the right. Just click on the image to indicate you displeasure with this article.

    For some budding writers and those of us who are starved for attention, a review of the "VIEWS" or "IMPRESSIONS" is all the encouragement we need to continue to bombard you with our thoughts. It is similar to someone who uses TWITTER to post random thoughts just to irritate the media. It works every time, and I don't think they even realize that they have fallen for the Click Bait. On the other hand they are probably most aware that it increases RATINGS and gladly engage in the game. That may explain why they have such outrageous headlines that prove to be false once you read the article.

    Also as an added convenience, I have provided a link you can use if you don't particularly care about this article and want to quickly leave this article. Click image below to leave the article.


    The process of trying to entice you to click on Like or Share is known as Click Bait. That is the dangling of a link in hopes you will click on it and be taken to the online Medicine Show where we try to sell you on the latest Medicinal Cure All or some outrageous headline about a celebrity doing something crazy.

    If you are still reading this, Please take the opportunity to click on any of the icons below to show your appreciation for these words of wisdom.


    If you got this far, the TIMER COUNT (in seconds) will encourage me to write another article or two about nonsense that runs through my mind. There is nothing you can do about it now, your vote has been tallied and counted. Some of you may have notices that if you clicked on any of the images or links in this article it TAKES YOU BACK TO THIS ARTICLE. That is because every "CLICK COUNTS."I appreciate that and Thanks for clicking or sticking around. If you did not click on any of the links, don't worry the TIMER COUNT indicates that at least you read most of the article.

   I realize that some people prefer an emoji icon to actual text to voice their opinion. I have also provided a few for you use below:

If you object to the publisher for allowing this article to be published Click Here to send him a message.

   If you think this article is REDUNDANT, click on the mouse below.