On a More Serious Note...

...it seems I'm always asked why I'm not on Facebook.  Before that, my friends used to badger me about MySpace.  In fact, a friend of mine always assures me the whole phenomenon must have "jumped the shark" because he finally got on board the social media bandwagon.  You know, to entice me into joining.  ("Hey, if I'm now a part of this thing...")

It doesn't matter, however.  I have no intentions of signing up.

Interestingly, one of the presenters last Tuesday mentioned the fact that, before too long, none of us can pretend to be what we're not.  Well ... hmmm.  That's really not how I see it.  In fact, it seems to me most people 'blow themselves up' on Facebook.

Now, I'm clearly not inferring they set literal explosives.  Nor am I insinuating people self-destruct on Facebook.  My use of 'blow it up' comes from an old John Edwards phrase back when he was a lawyer in North Carolina.  You see, he was running for that senatorial seat (which he won) back in 1998, and his opponent kept running these TV spots that showed Edwards repeating the phrase "Blow it up!"  In these negative attack ads, the opponent was clearly trying to point out that Edwards got where he was through exaggeration and hyperbole.  Edwards seemed to take events, circumstances, and personal information and "blow them up" to gain more weight.

That's my opinion of most folks' Facebook pages.  *shrug*

Sure, it's annoying to most people to have to actually e-mail me for party invites and whatnot.  Ha.  But I think they can suffer through.

Maybe I'm too 'old-school.'  I mean, that's certainly a possibility.  Nevertheless, I've worked too many jobs to realize employers will judge you (usually harshly) on your online activities and personalized pages.  (Of course that could be changing...)  But not only that, if you have an ex (or any other individual or group) you might like to avoid, Facebook seems fairly counterintuitive.

Have you seen that new Virgin Mobile spot featuring the "that's craaaaazy, right?" girl in the tree?  Yep.

Anyway, my life doesn't seem to be that much worse due to my absence from Facebook.  Heh.

As for employing Facebook in the classroom?  Not a fan.

However, I can definitely see the appeal of LinkedIn, especially for those seeking new employment.  And I came away very impressed with Pinterest.  In fact, I might just try to use that one for my class this semester - posting print and outdoor ads that catch the students' interest.

Back to Facebook...  As a former advertiser and current student of advertising, I can absolutely see the value in Facebook and other forms of social media.  Personalized banner ads, Facebook promotions and fan pages, etc.?  All great.

But yeah, on a personal level, I've got to take the Stan Marsh position.  If that reference escapes you, have a look-see.  Even if you're pro-Facebook, you'll probably find it funny.

Of course, who knows what the future holds?  Maybe I'll come around.  But right now, I kinda doubt it.

Peace, everyone.  See you on Tuesday.