The Old Facebook Stupidity

You know what I dislike? It's people's abuse of the internet, and I am not talking about the hackers, crackers, spammers or scammers. Although, what I hate, is when people really think they can control the way the internet works, and that they can set the pace on how its used. (Sure users are the source of revenue but those who really understand users know that users are idiots and will keep coming back anyway. There is a sucker born every minute- I love this quote)

Back to the point.

I got two facebook accounts, more email accounts than fingers, and I don't know how many online accounts and logins on every website you can think of. It's just something that you have to come and accept that all this user activity we log, is simply unavoidable, and if you want to survive the informatin age, you just have to live with it.

An example of something I hate about user idiocy, is this "Bring back the old facebook" stupidity. Alot of people, actually most, people on the internet are completely ignorant of how the internet works, or how online communities work, or either of them. Sure, the thing about online communities is that they have no rules, and anyone can "start" a movement. I am not going to talk about online communities, that's actually an interesting thing to talk about. What really bugs me and spurred this post is how people don't understand how the internet evolves and will evolve, and that they think they can stop things if they get enough people behind it.

Go shout yourself.

For example, there is a group on facebook "4,000,000 to bring back the old facebook" and they are probably at like 3 million members so far. Utter stupidity. Facebook has changed its look and feel 3 times in the last 18 months, and none of these groups stopped them from doing that. And surprise surpise, out of the 3 million+ who joined these groups like idiots (sorry am using the word alot) did not leave facebook just because they didn't like the new look. Ha! that would be a laugh. They are simply too addicted and attached to it to leave, no matter how it looks. As long as it gets them to stupidly advertise themselves in a self-perceived-look-of-themselves-that-is-completely-different-than-reality, plaster their drunk pics, their lame social life, and their stupid ideas, then they will keep coming back. The only difference between facebook and other websites is that they do there changes in-your-face style, which I kind of like.

Take Amazon for example. If you take a look at the Amazon website 4 years ago, it would be much different. Yet, Amazon chose to introduce changes (recommendations, ratings, new products, etc etc...) gradually, and in a more subttle way, that users just evolved with it. Amazon probably has more users than facebook, but these users are a little more focused on the "in-out" idea (although this is changing also as more social networking features get added to amazon): find what you want, browse, buy, leave. But facebook is a passtime website, and users tend to spend longer time on it, and use the features, and hence notice them. And sometimes, don't like the way they change because its not the way they are used to..... but, they won't leave, because no else will !! There are 70 + million users, and growing, and as long as users think of self-advertising themselves on facebook, whatever Mr. Zuckerberg and co. at facebook decide to do, the users will accept.... well, as long as they don't start charging them for having an account. (Every wants free advertising )

Yet on the flipside, the crap thing about the changing online community is that business, like everything will set the pace on the evolution of the internet, is that it will go mainstream and become less fun. What facebook started off as something for fun and messing about making fun of each other and creating this virtual persona that had nothing to do with reality. Ribaldry (or manyake as we would say in Lebanon) was king, and I could up anyone by one, throw bad ass jokes on walls and portray myself as Chris Rock with a twist, it was fun. But when cats started using it to brag about how many friends they have, who they work for, what countries they travelled and how popular with girls they are, it all went wrong. And for people like me its now just another email concept of connecting with people- with less hassle on attachments. Check this post.

Bottom line, users are stupid, and smile, you are being exploited, because no one is leaving. As long as the girl thinks she can get back at her boyfriend by posting pics of her going out and having a blast, and as long as guys think they can get laid through facebook , everyone will keep coming back. I need to make a group called "all stupid facebookers"

It's shit that I now have to watch my mouth, even on facebook. Damn you majority.