Tuesday, August 14, 2007

facebook conspiracy

although i will admit i am addicted to facebook i cant help but wonder about it...maybe ponder is a better word. this massive social network allows you to find friends that you have not heard from since elementary school, pretty cool. but are we supposed to be back in contact with these people? i wonder if they leave your life for a reason and, now, are suddenly around again what effects does this have. or what do you do about people who you sort of know but not really and they want to be your friend? what do you do? be their friend, ignore them or even reject them? and really when you have like 250 friends has this just turned into, basically, a high school popularity contest? and then there is the whole personal information thing. t, who is probably right on this, believes that they are tracking what you do, say, what you like and don't, and where you are. this is like handing marketing companies the information they so desperately want. and i think this can be seen in the new polls that are on the facebook home page when you sign in. "what kind of toothpaste do you like" was one poll i saw. all those applications like "what are you listening to?" to "where you have traveled to" reveal a lot of valuable information. that being said i am not closing down the ol' facebook account quite yet...it has been a great way to keep in touch with friends overseas find those people i wished i had kept in touch with, but i am wary of what i say on it and i have chosen not to add any of the outside applications as they are not under the same privacy policy as facebook claims to be. so i guess it is more about being aware that being scared, or you can relive this conversation i had with t:

t : just say you were being hunted down by the them

kels: why? what did you do

t: that is not relevant, just say "they" were looking for you

kels: they?

t: ok the government

kels; ok but why?

t: kels...that is not the point the point is that this facebook account would screw you because they would know everything about you....right, from where you are, to what you like, all your contact information, to all your
friends

kels: ok i guess so....but why would you be running from the government

t: (sighs and rolls his eyes) i have already said that is NOT the point

kels: ummm ok....so i am keeping my account

t: fine....hey can you look for some friends of mine

7 comments:

Sara said...

i am pretty sure it is some sort of tracking system.
have you read the handmaids tale? anytime something like this comes up i think of it and how we are all slowly being controlled. facebook is like the handmiads tale of technology...but a little different!
and everybody and their dog is addicted, so i guess it is working. scary.

Stepiphany said...

Ha! I love the last line in the convo: "fine... hey can you look for some friends of mine?". Classic.

It's so weird. I NEVER used Facebook up until very recently. Why I started I'm not even sure, but I will be very aware of what I add (I try to stay as vague as possible).

kels said...

yeah i try not to get too worried about it but when you think about it they do have an awful lot of information from what you read to who your friends are...

Dx said...

That's what I love about blogging... no old friends dropping by to contradict me. I tend to leave friends from my past in the past and just think about them. It doesn't waste my memories.

lu said...

leaving friends from the past in the past... i try that but something keeps drawing me back. and sometimes i am happy it does, other times, it is the same old shite.

BUT, the facebook is great so that i can send you messages about dinks and balls and all other inappropriate things!

Anonymous said...
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Unknown said...

This conversation was amazing. period.