What’s Up With That?

The other day I was doing some research on the Internet and came across a website that was raffling off some backpacking gear. Now, I don’t know why the owner was giving away gear, it was a personal website, not a business. And curiously, it you went to the owner’s Facebook page and clicked the “Like” button; you would get an extra 4 chances to win the raffle.

I have to admit, I don’t get it.

Recently I have noticed that some companies offer incentives if you go to their Facebook site and “Like” them. It sounds like bribery to me, and unethical. But you need to know that I don’t have a Facebook account, so all of this is a mystery. Why would a company want or need a lot of “Likes?” Does this sell more products and services? I have no idea. And if it  sells more products and services, and the company got a gazillion people to like them by giving away incentives; well that is down right immoral in my book.

So, I have to admit, I don’t get it.

Recently while traveling at 30,000 feet on a business trip, I read an article in the airline’s magazine that 1 billion people belong to Facebook. That is about 14% of the world’s population! And more incredible, the article said that Facebook processes 2.7 billion Facebook “Like” button clicks PER DAY. I wonder how many electrons are used for those 2.7 billion clicks. I wonder how much energy is used to power Facebook and other social networking sites. I wonder why people seem to spend so much time doing this.

Now, I really, really, don’t get it.

On New Year’s Eve, my wife wanted to watch one of those “count-down” shows. You know, Dick Clark or some celebrity counts down the minutes until some big ball moves in concert with the clock hitting midnight. I noticed at the bottom of the screen, messages were scrolling across; silly messages; such as, how nice some celebrity’s outfit looked. My wife explained that these people were going to Twitter, and sending messages… I think she said they are called “Tweets.” She also told me that some television shows scroll messages at the bottom of the screen, messages that are sent by viewers. Well, that is about the most pathetic thing I have ever heard. People sitting at home watching some mindless TV program, and then sending messages.

I don’t get it.

I don’t need Facebook. How do I know, since I have never seen a Facebook site? Because I am completely satisfied with my life. I don’t need Facebook. I have lived over 60 years without Facebook, and everything is great.

What, you might ask, “How could you have never seen a Facebook site?”

Well I have been re-directed to Facebook sites when researching, but there is always a Facebook Log-on or Sign-up page. No thanks.

I will admit, I have a Twitter account. Or at least I think I do. Years ago my son, Joe, was running in the NCAA Cross Country Championships. There was no live media coverage. Supposedly someone with a Twitter account was going to post a minute-by-minute report of the race. For this reason, I joined Twitter. So many people were trying to get to this Twitter page; it slowed down and finally froze-up. Soon I was inundated with messages from Twitter people, none who I knew, asking me to join, follow, be a fan, or whatever it is that these Twits do.

Twits

Let’s see… it’s Twitter, they tweet, so they must be twits? Anyway, I had to use my email spam filter to block the insanity. If you are inclined, you can probably find my Tweeter page – or is it my Twitter page? But it is empty – well it must be empty, I never did anything with it.

I really don’t get it. Why would people I don’t know want to waste my time and their time with this foolishness?

I also have a Linked-In account. Now this was not my idea. Years ago my boss, at the time, asked all his direct reports to join, explaining it was good for business and networking. Heck, I thought networking was about CAT 5 cables, PC cards, and servers. Oh, well. Anyway, soon I started getting emails from all sorts of strangers asking me to “connect” with them. Now, I don’t know what “connecting” is, so I assume it means to press the “Delete” button.

Recently another bad thing has happened. Every day I started getting email messages that someone on Linked-In had “endorsed” me. Then people started requesting that I endorse them. All of this sounds similar to the Facebook “Like” button. I recently fixed this too with the spam filter in my email. I am so confused by connections, fans, followers, Like, tweets, twits, and the ilk.

I just don’t get it.

By the way, there is no “Like” or “Dislike” button on my website. Nor can you leave a comment. That is because I could care less about what anyone thinks about it.