Facebook is Many Things; Often Ridiculous.

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In the shadow of the political assassination of Charlie Kirk, founder of Turning USA, a stain now exists upon our nation's collective conscious, a condition that must be excised, or our nation will not function properly as one of a self-governed people. Understanding these long standing truths: What would you suggest as a quick, and, or proper corrective measure?

20% Destroy the Fascist Donald Trump and all of MAGA, because America must never be Great Again.

80% Our self-governed people, and their properly restored institutions, under President Trump, must discover the root causes to properly correct, and save our Constitutional Republic.

0% I thought we had to shut down Free Speech we don't like to save our "democracy," so I am totally confused now.

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Published: Monday, April 2nd, 2018 @ 3:46 am
By: Stan Deatherage ( More Entries )

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And yet hordes of people flock to Facebook for the connectivity, supplied by the World Wide Web, to friends - some real, some imagined - but all easily accessible by a platform that many consider free, moreover, many do not understand.

    First and foremost dear people connected by the internet, nothing in life is free, certainly not Facebook. While some folks awake each morning to scurry to type their latest musings on Mark Zuckerberg's online platform, these folks are actually building out his website, Facebook, for free. In other words, you Facebook users are indispensable to his plan, yet he sells your private information /data collection by Facebook to others, like Cambridge Analytica, while using that same data to promote certain people and issues, especially their advertisements over others on that same Facebook user's timeline that they built for Mr. Zuckerberg.

    Confused yet? I kind of am, but that thing that I am certain of is that I, and many others, have been conned into building our Mr. Zuckerberg's website, and all I get in return is a poor placement in this monolithic memory bank of controlled and sold data. There are so many ways to stay in contact with others on the internet, yet Facebook is the solid choice by many people seeking connection with others. It is the way of this world, where humans often act like cattle waiting for the stampede. Meandering about in some sameness of presumed purpose.

    'So, Like me, Friend me; do it now while I still possess a modicum of concentration, or just ... let me drift here aimlessly. Aimlessly until I receive the the stimulation of approval ... so like me ... Please?'

    What a sad, sorry world we have made for ourselves if we can only see ourselves through the eyes of others; the personal gratification of being Liked on Facebook; a popularity contest far from high school past or present, where we exist in a plane of equilibrium on Mark Zuckerberg's platform, where all of you, and, sadly me, build out his website; a site originating from his desire to categorize certain young woman's attributes relative to barnyard animals while he was a college boy.

    And now, we find that some of our personal information is being sold to the highest bidder; that Facebook sells its ad space for the Fake News, the entrapment ads leading nowhere real, and we all continue to build out Zuckerberg's website, by employing his dumbed-down content management system, where you are given a whiff of control, but, you control nothing - not the content you create, not even your own personal data.

    Wake up people! Isn't it time to cut the virtual umbilical cord? Nothing is free in this world, but, with a bit of work, you can still free your mind; instant gratification of "Like me" on Facebook is not the answer.

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Stan Deatherage said:

( March 30th, 2018 @ 12:22 pm )

Well said Bobby Tony. Now, America is a collection of self-absorbed neo-celebreties.

The only pathetic part of all this is that there are too many people who think that being any kind of celebrity makes them somehow special.

Bobby Tony said:

( March 30th, 2018 @ 8:12 am )

Facebook did not start this problem, they just made it easier to spread the word.

Bobby Tony said:

( March 28th, 2018 @ 8:50 am )

I doubt that Andy Warhol understood the technology would invalidate his statement that "In the future, everyone will be world-famous for 15 minutes." It is still true today but with the addition of the ability to store everything in a silicon chip, we can all be famous several times over and over for our 15 minutes. Just ask any politician who has tripped over his own words when they are repeated back to him in crystal clarity.

I dusted off an old article on technology at your suggestion. It is in the queue.

Stan Deatherage said:

( March 27th, 2018 @ 8:38 pm )

Hey B.T. This commentary of yours would make a fine post, or a group of posts.

You have an intimate knowledge of this tech stuff and this media stuff that belies your age, and challenges the precepts of fairly intelligent folk far younger. You really get it.

Not having real privacy as one travels the world wide web makes one want to pull back a bit, and tell the over zealous, like Facebook and Google, to get out of my face; leave me alone.

Bobby Tony said:

( March 26th, 2018 @ 7:53 pm )

We should all be so lucky. I don't begrudge him the success as a private company but I do think that the premise should be more transparent. I constantly click on "don't want to see this again" in my Facebook timeline. As a result most of my time line is from 'Friends' and I have unfollowed those that overly post political etc. I check back with them about once a month to see if anything of interest to me is posted on their time line.

I agree with your assessment of Local Advertisement. I was not clear enough on the over use of mass ads targeted to me. The one thing the whole social media has brought is the quick scan without applying thought. That is what is currently going on with the political debate. We have devolved into the Shoot out at the Meme Corral.

Stan Deatherage said:

( March 26th, 2018 @ 9:49 am )

Zuckerberg was lucky to catch it at the right time, and then be willing to keep it so generic, and from a functional aspect. It is not like one can publish a well developed post on his site.

But local advertisement may not be dead yet, but what advertisement could be done will have to be done well, and quite informatively.

Bobby Tony said:

( March 26th, 2018 @ 7:50 am )

I started using Facebook to keep in touch with old friends and the kids. While I have never been an frequent poster, I did enjoy the ability to keep track of people long since gone from my present circle. Like you illustrate, MZ struck gold when he provided a format for the non-technical public to stay in touch. Perhaps it is the ultimate realization of "If you build it they will come."

For years I have felt that there was an opportunity for a paid subscription of Facebook or a similar format where you could personally tailor the content. Perhaps several layers on a monthly basis which still allows contact with friends but allows you to opt out of advertising at various levels.

I think that Facebook and Google have placed the stake in the heart of advertising. It may be a slow death but eventually the clicks or views will be irrelevant due to over exposure.

My best example is an add showing Chicken Little, The Wicked Witch, and Pinocchio telling their favorite scams. Then a kid from AT&T tells his story and everyone looks at him with displeasure. The Witch tells him "Words have consequences young man." I still don't know what company they are advertising but I did remember AT&T.

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