Monday, March 26, 2012

Addicted To Facebook

By Miriam B. Medina


It seems that this Facebook thing has gotten a little crazy for the past few years. I think it's more than just a fad I think it's here to stay. There's been a popular move made about its conception and creation called “The Social Network” and now the company is even going public which has led, to enormous scrutiny for the organization as the angst builds up on Wall Street and by the government. In fact, Facebook has agreed to the cheapest IPO fees of all time, for any company going public in the history of Wall Street. That means that big time banks are willing to take less money than ever to represent the company. Moreover, perform due diligence on it so that stock can be issued and legally traded.

The fact is, big banks like JP Morgan and Goldman Sachs don't like to lose money, so they see and understand the enormous popularity of it, even if there are questions as to how to value the company. That's why Facebook has been making so many changes lately, like their unpopular timeline decision and their new rules, because the company is going public. This means that they need to stabilize their platform and how they operate, because anyone will be able to invest in, and lose or gain money from Facebook. Founder Mark Zuckerberg recognizes this and made it apparent in his recent SEC filing when he made his plans to go public a reality. There will be changes to the Facebook that we know and love.

In preparation for the IPO, Facebook founder and CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, embedded a“letter to the shareholders” within the SEC filing that stated:“Facebook was not originally created to be a company. It was built to accomplish a social mission – to make the world more open and connected…” While Facebook may not have been created to be a company. It is now a company. A big company. And it’s soon to be a company that will answer to Wall Street.

Well, I must say that I don't care about the valuation of fake profiles and advertising rates and the like, but I, like millions upon millions of others, have become a true Facebookaholic. Facebook, for me and many others, has become a second home, my home away from home. I find every opportunity and reason possible, while working on my computer, to visit it. I constantly check my notifications. Who likes what I posted? Who is sending me a message now, who is apping me, poking me, is ticked off at me, un-friending me or giving me lip? However, that doesn't mean I simply love everything in the world about Facebook. I think I'd like you to make some changes too, while you're at it, Mr. Zuckerberg, and I bet many other Facebookaholics would agree with me. I'd also like to see some changes by people who use Facebook.
Here is a list of my suggested changes:

1. The like button overworked – You don't have to say you like the picture of my kid in a bunny suit or of my dog taking a leak if you don't know me or never met them. I don't want to feel forced to say I like the picture of you dressed up like Lady Gaga with your hairy chest sticking out, either. Press the like button when you know or LIKE something or someone, don't just press it reflexively. It's not the television remote control after all.

2. I hate being pulled into group simply because someone feels I would be suitable for it without asking me if I want to join it. I don't want to be part of the admirers of PEOPLE WHO WON'T PAY FOR BREAST IMPLANTS WITH TAX $$$. Ask me first, before you include me. And don't ask me to play every single game you waste your life playing because I met you in a super market once. Seriously, let's use some common sense here. Sheesh!

3. I hate being made an administrator of something without my even knowing what the title of what I'm administrating represents. I don't know or care anything about the fiscal policy in Bali, so why would I want to be an administrator of a Bali reform group? How am I qualified, because I accepted your friend request because we both know my second cousin? I resent people controlling my life, and there is a large amount of that going on in Facebook. Manners, people, please. I get up at 4 in the morning and walk my dogs every day, and then I immediately go to Facebook and post, even before I have my coffee. The more groups I belong to, the more posts I have to add. Only include me in a group if it means something.

4. Let's make Facebook less competitive. It's like a marathon now, who could outshine everybody else. Who can put out better pictures, who can get the most likes and comments. It's a SOCIAL NETWORK, not a popularity contest. Let's skip the high school drama. I just want to say hello to my best friend from high school I haven't seen in 30 years, see how they are doing, how their family is. I don't want to go back in time and pass notes in gym class telling everyone she should be prom queen because she's the coolest or because she's my friend.

5. If you post too much and too often, in a group then you are accused of taking up the whole wall. Well what's the wall there for, to be posted on, right? That's why it's a wall, so you can write on it. If not, then give everyone one chance to make a comment until all others post. Put up or shut up is what I say. Save the political correctness, for your “Save the Spider Monkey Bedbug in Kirjakhistan” meetings. Seriously.
Lets face it the spin-off to this is that I am addicted. Hey you do meet some real nice people on Facebook, it has its merits, that's why I like it, I just think it could use some improvement, and mostly, people could behave better on Facebook. Some people smile in your face and are nice in posts to you and then stab you in the back. Everyone wants to be popular, but in the process, you step on toes and make enemies out of so-called friends. Why can't we just go on Facebook, play nice and enjoy each other. Post jokes, laugh, interact, and simply AVOID things we don't like instead of making fun of them, cussing at them and knocking them down. On second thought, Mr. Zuckerberg, you don't need to overhaul Facebook, you just need to teach people how to behave.

To contact: miriammedina@earthlink.net

The Unavoidable Dilemma: Facebook Timeline

By Miriam B. Medina

'Ah, the times they are a-changing,' as Bob Dylan might say, or sing. For Facebook fans, like it or not, the timeline, well, it is changing. As a consequence that fact has many Facebook users ticked off, but the verifiable truth is most people just fear change, they don't understand the timeline changes and what they're all about. As a result of the national survey that Facebook itself took a few months back, they found that 84% of polled Facebook users don't like the mandatory timeline changes. These changes will take effect if you take no action as of March 30th, 2012. So why is Facebook forging ahead with the project?

1. They're going public and need to solidify their format.

2. They argue that people hated the tab and apps installation they instituted several years ago, which is now their most popular feature.

3. They believe the timeline feature is the natural evolution of Facebook, a social website that chronicles you as a person, your history, your personality and your likes and dislikes. Now they can preserve YOU for generations to come.

The fact is, most people fear change, and much confusion surrounds this timeline change for Facebook. Facebook is now a hugely popular site, with well over 30 million users. You can imagine that this makes for a difficult time for Facebook's servers and coders. Imagine all of the maintenance that comes with each and every change you and MILLIONS of other users make with their Facebook pages. The timeline feature locks in a front page template that is uniform in style, not in substance, takes less server space, and keeps whatever you put on Facebook there for years to come.

This thought terrifies people, because, they say, it invades their privacy, but in fact, it does the exact opposite. People fear that the ugly argument they have with their boyfriend or girlfriend will be forever saved, open and bare, as mud flings back and forth in Internet limbo, over and over again, while the zinger you made on your Facebook profile about his or her mother dangles precariously over the Internet for everyone to see, including his or her mother, eternally. But that isn't exactly the case. The argument WILL be there forever in theory, assuming Facebook lasts forever and is relevant forever (just ask MySpace about the likelihood of that), but you can choose who you want to see it, or if you want anyone to see it at all. You actually have more control over privacy as to what people see on your Facebook profile, it just takes a little more effort on your part.

More than that perhaps that is what people hate. More effort means more work. You actually can control the posts and pictures and comments that everyone sees on your Facebook with the new timeline feature, but you'll have to be vigilant as to what you do. If you delete something, it will be permanently gone. If you lock a post so only you and the poster can see it, it will be locked until you let it go, unless, of course, it is copied and pasted elsewhere by the poster, so others can read the exchange. Nonetheless, there are holes in every theory, aren't there. Yet I'm sure Facebook will plug these holes as they arise. That's part of running a business on the Internet, the times and the technology, they do change. However, trial and error and improving products is what business has been about forever. Perhaps the more things change, the more they stay the same. In this regard, Facebook has been the best social network site available for years. Hopefully that stays the same. Us Facebook fans will just have to work with them as the new timeline feature is instituted.

To contact: miriammedina@earthlink.net

Miriam B. Medina is an expert author at Diamond Level with Ezinearticles.com.

Thursday, March 15, 2012

MAIN BLOG DIRECTORY-March 2012



A.) Getting To Know Mimi (B.) N.Y.C. History (C.) Italian Harlem(D.) Spanish Harlem (E.) Black Harlem (F.) New York State (G.) Tenement Living: Social Issues Of Urban Life (Poverty, Crime&Vice, Homelessness, Group Conflicts, Diseases, Gays&Lesbians: Gender Identity, Domestic Violence, Drug&Alcohol Abuse, Police Brutality )

(H.) Chit-Chat Over Coffee Swirls




(I.) Jewish Knowledge (K.) Historical Facts On England & United States


Table of Contents (4a)
Positive Thinking and Self-Improvement

Table of Contents (5)
(L) Miscellaneous (M.) Timetables (N.) Ethnic Groups (O.) Legal Talk(P.) Entertainment: Backward Glances (Q.) Immigration




R.) Women__Bio Sketches, Feminine Fancies, Recipes, Kitchen Talk.(S.) Worship




(T.) A Little Taste of History, (U.) U.S. History-Transportation, (V) U.S. History-Panics, Economic Depressions, Business Matters



(W) El Rincón En Español (The Spanish Corner: ) . This section is dedicated to articles of historical facts, poetry, self-improvement, human interest stories etc. written in Spanish.



(X) So Mr. President, What Did You Do During Your Term in Office....? (The Series)



(Y) Brusciano, Italy News/Events




Y) Brusciano, Italy News/Events

(Z) The Italian Niche


Pensieri di uno scrittore italiano: dott. Antonio Castaldo





Thoughts of an Italian Writer: Dr. Antonio Castaldo




I) "El Rincón Borinqueña"


II) Arts and Entertainment



III Architecture


IV Education

V Wisdom: Thoughts From the Indian Masters



VI Understanding Music



VII Published Articles Written by Miriam B. Medina



Click on Icon to view articles on Ezine or on Table of Contents


VIII New York City Neighborhoods




IX Memories (Brooklyn, Manhattan and Personal)



John J. Burkard

X Red Hook, Reflections on History


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