Men reading.
Sorry but I had to pump up my comment moderation due to the huge number of spams I was getting.
It's bizarre reading down my home page on facebook and seeing disparate comments, one after the other. It's like being on a party line again. You're in the midst of a million conversations and it ends up resembling that anniversary party where you foolishly included friends, family, colleagues: people who had nothing in common.
Who writes the quizzes and why is the spelling often poor?
How do you feel when it become clear someone asked you to be friends just to sell you their book?
Why do you end up "hiding" people you didn't know to begin with. And why do they write so many entries?
Why do entries often seem intended for a specific person when it's clear many people will be reading it?
When you send a flower or join a group, does any good come of it? I'm never sure what the purpose is?
Does the one who has the most friends at the end win the game?
What do you think about facebook?
25 comments:
Marketing one's self through what is theoretically a tool for social interaction is not the same thing as getting anyone to buy or read one's work.
Say, is it really easier to moderate comments than to delete the spam?
I think Facebook is the most blatant of the data-mining services. Blogger's bad enough that way. And about as time-wasting as Twittering.
I had two dozen to delete today. It had put comments on postings two years old and finding each of them would be a pain. Maybe I'll drop it after a week or two and see if it returns.
There is some strange span going on on the blogs. I'm getting it to Patti - something from Anonymous.
As to Facebook, I think it depends what you're using it for. I've connected with people I used to work with in Florida, and that's really great. My husband has an entire group from his hometown, and they're having a wonderful time.
Twitter is much more useful to me for promotion of library events than Facebook. I use the different social media for different reasons.
Lesa Holstine
http://lesasbookcritiques.blogspot.com
I never got into the whole Facebook thing.I guess if I ever sell a book I'llprobably have to, but until then, ignorance is bliss.
And i don't care if it's a deal breaker with a publisher: no Twitter.
there's been a real upsurge in the spam at my place too.
It is a greater distraction than it is a blessing. Mind you, I still enjoyed it until this latest bug-filled monstrosity of a version came out. Now entire notes and comments are lost, plus the apps (the faux gifts and the like) that they use to track us for marketing research won't even load properly anymore.
I'm not on Facebook because I already have a blog, and anyone who wants to find me can find it.
I like Twitter because it's quick and low maintenance.
I like that idea. Better yet, quit facebook and don't join twitter.
I was anti-Facebook until it just became more effort to explain why I hated it then to just go ahead and create a profile. It's been nice reconnecting with friends but it's more of a social requirement than good fun.
I'm a twitter hypocrite. I would never tweet myself but I love reading tweets from celebrities and people that just post random (usually funny) thoughts.
ah don't quit facebook, Patti. Yes it is a huge marketing device. Yes it does seem like they are tracking you as a consumer. Yes it is yet another time suck. But, damn, it's a lot of fun. It is a cool way to keep up with people you like and enjoy communicating with. (By the way, I do love it when you post something, because it's typically interesting--think of it as an extension of your blog--and fun to respond to.)Plus, I am a pretty big booster of the site because of the friendships I've forged with the likes of guys like Frank Bill
Aw, okay, Keith.
I'm skeptical of MySpace and FaceBook. And now, Twitter. How much social interaction do people need? When do they get anything done if they're constantly updating their various accounts? I'm satisfied with my minimal blog.
I have facebook, but it's mainly to keep up with people in europe.... however I have found a lot of people who I went to school that I hadn't thought of in years. In fact the day I joined I got a e-mail from someone who wanted to appolgise for hitting me in the head with a ball in gym class in the fifth grade.
as for data mining, as long as I know that's what they are doing, I can make sure and skew my information to make sure that it get's used for good.... ie, I really like this; Movie, Book, LP that is out of print.
I can barely remember the 21 members of my high school class and doubt they are on there. I should try a few though.
The applications are all useful if they are useful to you. I've slowed down on posting to my blog, but I use it for longer form things and I prefer it. I have a Twitter account and I rarely feel compelled to post my 140 characters or less, but it has been interesting to watch how other people use it. Some people seem to use it to chat (nah -- I'm too busy for that and if I want to chat I'll use IM), some people use it to market something and some people are just post interesting thoughts and links. I look at it now and then, but not often.
I like Facebook because I can come and go as I please. It can be a little disconcerting to have such a weird mix of Friends, but I have reconnected with a number of people I'd lost touch with (but taken it off FB and onto email).
Right now, I'm about to take a couple of days away from all of it because I'm too easily distracted by it. As a matter of fact, this is probably my last comment to a blog for a few days :)
George--It seriously only takes a couple of seconds to update, and I've said it before and I'll say it again, if you're distracted by the social networking sites, chances are you'll be distracted by anything.
The weird mix is what puts me off. I feel like I'm eavesdropping half the time. Was I meant to see that?
I am on both facebook and twitter but don't use them. Too much time! And it's too much connectivity.
Patti,
I don't think they'd be posting it on their or a friends wall if it wasn't meant to be read.
The Facebook Emperor has no clothes.
You make worthy points, P.
Aloha-
I'm a greedy guts because I have two Facebook profiles. One is strictly for family and the other for friends and anyone else who wants to meet up with me.
It's interesting and it's fun - the downside is that it can be time consuming so I restrict myself there.
It seems to be an American thing to connect with those who you don't really know to sell books. I've had several of those and I don't really know who the guys were. (Sorry if you're reading this. I'm a connectable guy, so I don't easily delete friendship requests.)
Facebook is great for messages. You don't have to remember a huge amount of e-mail addresses. I don't much use the wall option. As for Twitter, I find it a bit clumsy with all those @-marks - and in there I also get to read messages I'm not really supposed to be reading and I just wonder what they are about. It doesn't bother me, though. Sometimes I feel like I'm being left out of something interesting, but that doesn't last long.
Speaking as someone who's done a book of my Facebook status updates, it's pretty clear I'm on the positive side. But I dont' use it as a marketing device, far from that. I see it more as an extension of my other writing - the collection could be seen as a conceptual poetry or at least as a diary of sorts. (You may remember I have at least one toe of my other foot in the experimental poetry group.)
I don't think I even understand the wall or other facets of it. It doesn't come as intuitively for we older facebookers.
The wall is like a wall in a house: you write on it, everyone can see it. It was always this way in Facebook, the new layout doesn't change that - they are just more visible. I didn't like the new Facebook at first, but now I'm accustomed to it.
As for data-mining Todd mentioned, if you want to avoid it, you'd better stop doing those Which Movies I Like Best things. I do them very rarely.
And hey, I already have a short story entry up. I just posted a link to the one I did three weeks back!
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