Facebook: Triumph and Tragedy

Now a completely Un-Russian post. A strange half-rant. I promise to return to hilarity next time. As my BIRTHDAY is coming up, I'm POSITIVE shenanigans will ensue and therefore make for great blog-fodder. Bad times make for great stories. And don't I know it. But onwards!

I will be the first to say I'm a Facebook addict, as is currently most of the Western world. I could cite a thousand different reasons why I sit at any job/home mindlessly checking my Facebook (besides the part where it's sometimes my job). I want to keep up with friends, stretch my stalking muscles, organize events, brag, advertise my blogovitch, etc. Yes it's a wonderful tool, but there is a place for Facebook. It is not ubiquitous.

Triumphs: Aside from the personal advantages, Facebook is a rapid and expansive form of communication to mass audiences. The Arab Spring is an obvious example of how social networking can mobilize the masses almost instantaneously. Similarly, people can safely and anonymously exercise their freedom of speech with less fear of repercussions and violence than if they were to rally in the streets. And if a group wants to rally in the streets, perhaps to protest the government shutdown by dumping trash on Boehner's lawn in DC, they can organize beforehand. On a lighter note, flash mobs have appeared almost solely thanks to Facebook and HOW MUCH FUN ARE THOSE?! And yes, Facebook can be used, and has been very successfully utilized in some embassies, for public diplomacy purposes. Jakarta and Karachi have managed to accrue a huge following, and by doing so, can engage the younger generations. The US can advertise its trademark transparency directly by showing the world what we're doing in our embassies, and more generally in the world. Similarly, businesses have found the new frontier of advertising. And boy do we know it. Please tell me more about Humboldt State University housing! Thank you for showing up all over my facebook page. Not.

Tragedy: God I've grown to hate Facebook. It sucks up my time when I just stare at a news feed and it promotes a deep and creepy understanding of strangers. Advertisers, phishers, and other obnoxious folk have so much information about us, they could probably blackmail us or steal our identity. Yes there are security settings, and yes, many of us forget to change them to "TOP SECRET CLASSIFIED YOU MUST GO THROUGH A YEAR OF DEEP BACKGROUND SEARCHES AND POLYGRAPH TESTS BEFORE GAINING ACCESS TO MY SECRETS AND FUN VACATION PICUTRES." Also, while power has been given to the people, politically speaking, by doing it through facebook, we often disregard actual human effort and attribute any uprising these days to The Book. This man says it much more eloquently than I do: http://www.independent.ie/business/technology/role-of-twitter-and-facebook-in-arab-spring-uprising-overstated-2818242.html. And while Facebook has been a tool for public diplomacy, too often it is not effective without reverting to gimmicks and persuasion. Success is now measured on how many "likes" a group has, rather than its content. These "giveaways" often overshadow the real message of people-to-people connections, which are difficult to do over such a large platform as Facebook. Perhaps I'm old fashioned.

It's all about the audience. A funeral home should not have a Facebook page, not only because, well it's not very classy, but more importantly the audience who would want to know about the funeral home probably is not on Facebook. US Embassy Beijing doesn't have a page because, voila, they understand that there is LITERALLY no audience. However with all these groups that don't belong cluttering the social networking site, it's cheapened the value of the service. Personally, my interest on facebook has been saturated tenfold thanks to the thousands upon thousands upon millions of useless pages like Humboldt County Tap Water and I make situations awkward because I find it funny (both of which I am a huge fan, both in real life, and on The Book). This is not to say that these pages should be gotten rid of or limited. On the contrary, I see Facebook as the perfect place for these silly groups that are purposeless. AND FLASH MOBS. It is the shameless advertising and politicization of Facebook that bugs me, and has inspired me to write this poorly coherent mini reason-rant. What I'd love is Facebook and Business Facebook. Two entities that allow me to separate family and friends from work and money.

And don't even get me started on how much I hate Twitter. 

Or perhaps the real crux of the issue is that I'm just bitter that I, as the youngster, always get saddled with the "get more fans for us!" duties. Now, with all that said, VIVA EL GOOGLE+! TRUST-BUSTERS BE DAMNED!