Consumer! CONSUME!
Well, at least I can be Happydog Potatohead here, without anyone trying to figure out who I really am so they can target advertising directly to my name. We made a bad compromise when we agreed to give our "real" names to the Internet. In the old days no one but an idiot would have used their real name on the Internet. Now, we're required to, so the advertisers can get to us directly, and our employers can find us on Facebook to see what we're up to and if it's corporate-friendly.
I'm pretty disgusted with Facebook, and really kind of disgusted overall with what the Internet has become. The only reason I don't quit Facebook is because it's the only way I can keep up with some people. On the other hand, I think too many people know who I am on there anyway.
Certainly I really didn't want my family to know who I was, and I gave in to that pressure. I should have misdirected them to my Real Name FB page, which is absolutely boring and has not been updated in months, and probably will not be except for innocuous crap occasionally. The purpose of the Real Name FB page is a decoy for employers or nosey-ass busybodies like employers or clients.
But really, I'm thinking of killing the whole thing, doing away with it all and getting off Facebook for good. I would lose track of a bunch of people though, people who I would like to know how they're doing. That's the damned thing about Facebook. And that's the only thing it's good for.
It's certainly rubbish for creative endeavors because you're not supposed to be creative on Facebook; you are supposed to make yourself available as a good consumer, so you can be told what and when and how much to consume. Creativity on Facebook consists of posting pictures of cats with funny captions and reposting stories that all start with, "You'll Never Believe What Happened When __________ Was Caught ________ing! It'll Warm Your Heart And Change Everything You Believe About The Universe!"
It is contradictory to post about FB on LJ. This was where I did some very good introspection and some pretty good writing if I do say so myself. If I had good sense I would just come here and do the writing and introspection.
I just wish that people answered letters. I know better than that. Even in the pre-Internet days when I wrote letters, I very seldom got replies to them. I wonder sometimes if I am hung over from my last incarnation in the 19th Century.