Im going to press the #irony button and say that, after having watched another disquieting expose (on how FB manipulates feeds, suppresses benign content, lets you game the system by paying fees, and is in turn gamed by click farms overseas) Im really having a hard time continuing with FB. I mean, Google+ doesnt look like a silver bullet, but FB clearly is not what I thought it was when I signed up 4 years ago. I mean, I use it, because this does seem to be the place where everybody is. And like they said on Southpark, Where else yah gonna go, Detroit? But I am disturbed by how uneven the update distribution is (as both sender and receiver) and I am fatigued by the near endless battle to cut down on spammy, stupid, hyperbolic, or otherwise meaningless meme posts. Where the sharer is not really saying anything *themselves* as much as its just a share for the sake of the share. And its invariably a video or some other content specifically (and perniciously?) designed to drive likes and therefore drive up distribution according to the FB algorithms. makes me think that the way I should have promoted the launch of my book was to take a video of my dog doing something dumb/cute, embed a link to my Amazon listing, and post that. In the same way all these radio stations are doing it: grab some movie of animals being adorable, or maybe teenaged boys being dangerous jackasses in a public place, and make sure it links back to my author blog. Which, honestly, I just cant bring myself to do. It would feel cheap and dishonest. But trying to use Facebook honestly to promote, seems extraordinarily difficult. Much, much more difficult than it ought to be. And in any case, I am not here *just* to promote. I do so occasionally when I feel I have something worth promoting. But the day my FB friends list is there strictly because I have something to sell to my friends, is the day someone needs to hit me between the eyes with a 5-lb hammer. Because thats not being social, thats being a lamprey. But FB seems to *encourage* lamprey-like activity and tactics! Feeling rather unhappy and disillusioned about social media as a result. >:-o
Posted on: Mon, 20 Oct 2014 20:33:26 +0000
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