Caught between loneliness and a lie.
Photo: Heidi Fedak
I have a confession to make.
I don't have a Facebook page or MySpace account.
Yes, it's true: I am a social anomaly, a MySpace misfit, a Facebook-less freak. Feel free to take a moment (or more) to ponder the extent of my social isolation.
Better?
I could try to bombard you with excuses for why I've ignored an entire online genre (I'm too old; the users, too young; I don't have time; I don't know how).
But the truth of the matter is this: I've bought into blogs, perused plenty of podcasts, enrolled in the school of RSS. Yet Facebook, MySpace and others of their ilk have failed to garner my limited attention because those platforms not only exploit personal connections, they make it tough to tell fact from fiction.
I don't care about Lonelygirl15 or a blog written by a body spray.
I will not succumb to viral marketing disguised as social networking. I will not bow to "the man," especially if I can't tell whether he's made up or real (no offense, Mr. Murdoch).
Like many others, the real Rupert sees the value (and by value, I mean revenue) in social networking sites, such as MySpace, Buzz-Oven, Xanga and Facebook. And, as a one-time marketer, I see it, too.
I just don't want to be part of it … at least, not on the receiving end.
I like my advertising – and my friends – straight up. Word of mouth is one thing. Word of mouth by way of money, mystery and make believe is another.
I find a lot of the points about these social Web sites interesting. Although, I am on facebook, I started with the intentions of just trying to keep in touch with childhood friends. It has obvisouly turned into more now.
However, although you find these sites silly and maybe even an invasion of privacy, my guess is some of the pod casts you subscribe to and some of the blogs you do read, others would think are different and have a similar opinion about those that you do about facebook and myspace.
Oh, I absolutely agree that some of the podcasts and blogs I subscribe to are downright silly. But none of them, to my knowledge, are written by a body spray (I could be wrong, of course).
I don't think the marketing/advertising aspect of social networking sites is nearly as intrusive as you contend. Unlike television, social networking sites don't force you to pay attention to advertisements. And the majority of advertising can be easily blocked by decent anti-virus software.
Yes, in a way it finds you, but only after you find it.
An aside: I think some social networking sites engage in viral marketing better than others, such as facebook. Myspace is not so good at it.
marketers will always try to find a newer, more intrusive way to advertise. but the best advertising will always be the most entertaining.
for my money, the subservient chicken is about as good as it gets.
I wonder how viral marketing would fit into an economic model of social networking.
The chciken will dance and it will die but it won't relieve itself.