Rant Time

What's a Friday without a little ranting? I have to say, even though social media is my chosen profession at the moment, sometimes the BS of the whole thing just starts to get to me. In that vein, here are a few choice reads:

• Even though Facebook is currently being investigated by European regulators, they're still pushing the envelope when it comes to profiting off exploiting people's privacy. They sure are profiting, too--$35 Billion is a recent estimated value. Facebook is making a mint off the fact that so many people use the site to connect with each other--I mean, fine, there's value in being able to connect but does that mean we should all roll over and let Facebook use our private data however they want in the name of "providing useful social experiences"? How about calling a spade a spade for once and just admitting "we've found a way to make a ton of money selling you out to third-party sites--but you're ok with that, right, because you like connecting on Facebook so we know you'll also like connecting on third party sites"? Bullshit. If I want to connect in a Facebook-like way I go to Facebook where I expect to be able to control how I connect; I don't need you to set up that same kind of interaction for me on other sites without my consent.  Thanks, though, for thinking of me.
• This article about the social media bubble by Umair Haque is a must read. Seriously. I mean, I love connecting online and derive a ton of value from it...but does that mean I think the whole world should benefit in a monetary way from the fact that I like to socialize online? I know it goes against the grain of what I do for a living to say this, but the idea of "monetizing" everything is making me increasingly sick. Take this ad campaign that Todd Deferen writes about--this is exactly what Umair Haque talks about: social media is making a caricature of real relationships and real trust.
• Speaking of rants, here's a doozy on the SocialFish blog. I can't really say I agree with the guy but I do wonder what set him off--because you know at the heart of every rant is a really good story that the person can't share so instead has to rant about something sort of but not totally related.

So what set me off on my rant? Well, if I told you I'd have to kill you, then nobody would be reading this blog so I can't do that. But suffice it to say it had something to do with smoke and mirrors and bullshit, all in the name of, you guessed it, social media.