I just walked past a local college, to see a large poster saying the following (I forgot to take a photo but will try on my next walk);
FACEBOOK says: Fake news is not your friend!
– followed by a load of blurb which I didn’t have time to read but was undoubtedly more propaganda to turn young kids against conservative thought. Remember Facebook is a site that many of it’s employees won’t let their families – especially their kids use. Very wise, as it induces mind-numbing discontentedness even in adults science has proved (but we all knew anyway). People are on average less happy whether they admit it or not because of constant comparisons of lifestyle – like richer neighbour syndrome on steroids. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=78oMjNCAayQ).
For a second I wanted to redact (seems an in-word at the moment) ‘fake news’ – and then thought – no – surely people will be as appalled as me at this attempt to politically sway young minds using wads of $$$$ made from people’s data if it’s just left in broad daylight.
The disturbing thing about this for me, was the fact that Facebook – or someone – actually went to the trouble of paying a company to put this poster on foreign soil 1000’s miles away in my tiny and happy little sea-side town (and I assume 1000’s other campuses around the world) outside a college entrance, and reminds me of something a well-known war-time foreign cabinet would do – you know, the one that exhibit the precise characteristics these Facebook folks are warning the students against. It seems they have their slimy tentacles everywhere.
Why am I saying this – surely fake news is not your friend?! Well that’s true – but if you didn’t know, let me remind folks of a conversation Mark Zuckerberg *allegedly* (to protect myself) had with a friend (I have linked a wikipedia page for you to read the transcript yourself – but research yourself to see if it actually happened);
2004
- Zuck: Yeah so if you ever need info about anyone at Harvard
Zuck: Just ask
Zuck: I have over 4,000 emails, pictures, addresses, SNS
[Redacted Friend’s Name]: What? How’d you manage that one?
Zuck: People just submitted it.
Zuck: I don’t know why.
Zuck: They “trust me”
Zuck: Dumb f**ks
Instant messages sent by Zuckerberg during Facebook’s early days, reported by Business Insider (May 13, 2010). Verify this yourself from the many sources – I only used Wikipedia for convenience. https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Mark_Zuckerberg
So who is really not your friend?
But wait… I’ve run social networks since 2000 – and I would never dream of thinking anything like this let alone say it out loud. I love the members of my sites with such a passion I’m willing to spend hours at a computer (which I don’t enjoy and often makes me ill) because I desperately want to make their lives better. I would say; if you find my sites are not helping you – please leave – or show me how I can help – not treat you like cattle. You just can’t brush this off – this really says something about a person that says something like this – whether they ‘meant’ it in the way it comes across or not – it says something I think we should be concerned about. The question is; what? And who do we really think is not our friend?
