February 6th, 2009
The biggest threat to social networking: Idiots
Warning: This is a Friday rant that’s slightly off the beaten path, but I’m having a bad social networking week.
Perhaps I’m feeling a bit antisocial, but this social networking thing has been quite annoying of late. First, there’s the Google Latitude announcement where the big benefit is in tracking friends every step (and allowing them to track you). Oh joy. Why don’t we just implant chips in our heads and get it over with?
And then there’s the 25 things meme on Facebook. Learning 25 things about your peeps was kind of fun–until everyone started doing it. Now I know 250,000 things about my friends. I’m numb. Even worse: I don’t care anymore.
But that’s only prelude to the reason why social networking has me down. Fact is that social networking sites give people a venue to whine about things that they have no business bitching about in the first place. In the real world, you’d just slap these people upside the head and get it over with.
Also see: Are drunk Facebook photos killing your job prospects?
Enter the mortgage broker’s wife on Facebook. You see, she’s complaining about the fact she can’t go to Las Vegas on her husband’s Wells Fargo junket that was just canceled over some seriously bad PR.
Well, that’s just oh so sad. And then there’s her husband, Mr. mortgage broker who posted a big ode about his bank and how it has been wronged by the press over this Las Vegas junket–the one he and his wife wanted to attend. Turns out his bank took some U.S. Treasury money and there are a few strings attached. Boo hoo.
If social networking didn’t exist these two people would just bitch and moan to themselves–and maybe a handful of others. Instead, social networking enables a lot more people to be exposed to this whining.
There is one bright side to this. All of this new media allows me to share my response to this whoa-is-me-I-can’t-go-to-Vegas-on-a-junket-tale. The response goes something like this:
“Wah. I can’t go to Vegas.” Well, give me a #@$# break, dude. You’re lucky to even be working. A) You’re a mortgage broker (evil). B) You work at a bank. If your dumb arse worked at Countrywide, IndyMac or a dozen others you’d be unemployed. The difference: Dumb #@$@# luck. You should count your blessings. As for the bailout I have two words–make that three. Tough bleeping bleep. Given that the taxpayer gave you dough–you dumbies took it–you have to deal with the strings attached–and one of them should be your salary. Is it just me or is it truly whacked that you benefited on commissions the entire way up on this mess (and you helped it along) and now benefit since all the idiots you gave a mortgage to are now refinancing because they couldn’t afford it in the first place.
The one upside to social networking: Defriending. Hey, perhaps it isn’t so bad after all.
Larry Dignan is Editor in Chief of ZDNet and Editorial Director of ZDNet sister site TechRepublic. See his full profile and disclosure of his industry affiliations.
For daily updates, follow Larry on Twitter.
Subscribe to Between the Lines via Email alerts or RSS.
| 02/06/09
