As you probably know (and as you probably are), I’m on Facebook as well as Livejournal. When I look at my Facebook “news” feed, I keep seeing messages of the form “Dubaldie K. Fritz became a fan of Throwing Sofas off the Third Floor Balcony” or “Dubaldie K. Fritz joined the group I bet we can find 1,000,000 people who support joining groups on Facebook”.
Now, I understand what these messages mean. I’m not that dense. What I don’t get is why?
Why fan/join a group on Facebook to change something that Facebook doesn’t have the power to change. No matter how many people fan or join the group, be it 30, 30 thousand, or 30 million, it is meaningless bits. So 1,000,000 people on Facebook join a group. It does nothing. Want to do something to support your cause? Send $1 or $5 to the group instead of joining. If 1,000,000 people each sent $1 to their cause instead of joining, the cause could do wonders.
Why fan/join a group on Facebook just because it has a cute name? I’m sure you agree with the sentiment “Yelling at someone in a movie when they do something idiotic!”, but why fan/join the group? Are they going to post messages of interest to you? Are they going to change any behavior? Are you likely to find someone you know but isn’t already on your friends list?
Joining/fanning useless groups does nothing but potentially clutter your news feed or create idiotic lines in your profile that someone else can look at and go, “Gee, that guy was an idiot for joining that group.” It shows you are a lemming, following a trend instead of thinking.
Am I saying that you shouldn’t join or fan groups? No. But do it for the right reason. Fan an organization because you truly are a fan of that organization and want to receive updates from them. That’s why I’ve fanned my congregation, my favorite theatres, and some other favorite organizations. Their updates give me useful information. Join groups where you really are part of that group, and want to have discussions in that group. That’s why I joined the “misc.kids” group, and why I’m part of various camp groups. Groups like that can help you find friends from your past. Can a group called “My favorite melon is cantaloupe” do that?
There, now I feel better. I think I’ll see if there is a group “People who rant about idiotic Facebook behaviors”. Oh, excuse me. It is called “there is too many groups about joining too many groups”. Nah. Perhaps I should join “Only joining the groups that actually mean something to you.” Nah. Perhaps, “Joining Groups just because you see everyone else in them!”. Nah, perhaps “why are we joining sexist groups when we could just be having sex?” On second thought, perhaps I won’t.
