Betty White hosted SNL last Saturday night, thanking half a million Facebook users who voted for her to get the gig. However, the 88 year old former "Golden Girl" could not resist a few zings at the expense of her fans. She mentioned that she had not even heard of Facebook before the buzz started. Now that she has become familiar with it, FB "seems like a huge waste of time." She insisted that she would never call frequent FB-ers "losers" because she was "too polite." Zzzzing!
Today there was a piece about "Giant cocktail parties" organized by Facebook members in France. A total of 20,000 young people attended these mob scenes in Nantes and Montpelier. More startling was aside from the usual problems associated with large groups and alcohol, only a single drunken reveler died of injuries - when he fell off a railing that he was trying to slide down.
Then there is the one about the dumbest criminal of the week - the guy who was on the lam in Mexico and got caught because he couldn't help posting his activities on FB.
"Maxi Sopo fled to Cancun, Mexico, last year after learning he was under investigation. For a while, investigators weren't sure where he was. But then Sopo began posting status updates on Facebook saying how much fun he was having -- and he added a former Justice Department official to his list of Facebook friends."
It makes you wonder whether all this connectedness isn't really just a journey from dumb to dumber. But it's also an interesting reminder how this medium has the power to bring mobs into the streets, create instant popularity and even to track down fugitives.
Another issue that has been in the news recently is Facebook's privacy policies. Too many trusting ( or shall we say naive) users are unknowingly sharing way too much of their personal data with strangers. Not all FB users are nice, and some of them can use information to steal ID's or even TV's (How would you like to see this note from some crook on your wall? "...thanks for telling us that you are in Marrakesh, now can feel secure, knowing that nobody will be around to stop us from breaking-in and stealing your 50 inch flat screen.")
Personally I am thinking about finding another way to waste time. Perhaps I will be following the crowd.
[Thursday evening, “how do i delete my facebook account” was among the top 20 trending searches on Google Hot Trends, and Friday morning “delete facebook account” made the list. ]
2 comments:
I think you are being kinda paranoid -- opportunistic thieves (looking for drug money usually) aren't able to crack facebook privacy protections -- my personal info isn't visible to anyone outside my approved friends circle, is yours?
compromised credit card numbers seem like a much more realistic worry.
(anyway, i'd like to see someone get that TV off my wall without a full wrecking crew.)
Perhaps we should now call it "About Facebook"?
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