Are social networking sites a designed distraction?

[RCA]

How many hours a day do the mainstream crowd spend on sites such as MySpace, Facebook and others? I don't know how many times I've heard in passing conversations "are you on Facebook?" or "I like MySpace better than...". When people have 400-500 "friend" lists at what point are you spending all day on these sites and not caring about real issues?

I'm getting off my soapbox now...

[Optatron]

social networking websites are one of the logical extensions of the internet, to entertain, to connect.

the latest product 'twitter' is at its best for free for all, no holds barred, censor free rumor spreading.

distraction? not if you never knew your main life/job purpose in the first place.

keep in mind, SN websites are sometimes tool FOR activism and anti-establishment as well (see "culture jamming")

Alex Jones criticized Myspace for being a Fox asset, then went along and got one himself.

[RCA]

social networking websites are one of the logical extensions of the internet, to entertain, to connect.

the latest product 'twitter' is at its best for free for all, no holds barred, censor free rumor spreading.

distraction? not if you never knew your main life/job purpose in the first place.

keep in mind, SN websites are sometimes tool FOR activism and anti-establishment as well (see "culture jamming")

Alex Jones criticized Myspace for being a Fox asset, then went along and got one himself.

And American Idol is a logical extension of...And Dancing with the Stars is a a logical extension of...And the Super Bowl is a logical extension of...And $4 coffee at Starbucks is a logical extension of...And $200 pair of tennis shoes is a logical extension of...And Granite counter tops and 3 car garages are a logical extension of...And the Wii is a logical extension of...

See where I'm going with that one?

Any technology COULD be used for activism but is the activism outweighing the bread and circus for said device? i.e. television

In addition what good is activism without education? How can someone be on Facebook 2 hours/day and also read great books to make them enlightened?

Someone mentioned in these forums about force fed culture and I wish I knew of a book on this subject.

[Reason]

I have deleted all my social networking pages after discovering how completely infiltrated those private companies are by various local and federal law enforcement agencies.

[DirtMcGirt]

Its the greatest data mining software ever created...

[Romulus]

They have become a valuable data mining asset, that is for sure. Don't think central services isn't aware of this. Its a port for access anytime they need it.

At the same time, it's a tool we can use to our advantage against them. I personally don't have any pages, but maybe I should set them up with Ron Paul links. It might just wake up a few people.

[ChaosControl]

I don't like them.
I have a false myspace that I created because I knew someone who had one and so I could play the poker app with them. But it has no real data of mine and I never use it anymore. I've never found the appeal of them. If I want to contact someone I can have them on an instant messenger like Yahoo or AIM or something, or just email them.

[Kludge]

I spend over 2 hours a day here, not on those "other" social networking sites... Bryan is Mossad.

[mediahasyou]

we have pretty much saturated other social networking sites with liberty. liberty activists need to move on past these sites and move on to "real world people".

theres too many fake people and spammers on the internet. meeting real people is far more effective.

some may see it as a bad thing that ronpaulforums has less traffic now. i see it as a good thing because people are moving on to the real world to do far greater and more productive things.

[Kludge]

we have pretty much saturated other social networking sites with liberty. liberty activists need to move on past these sites and move on to "real world people".

theres too many fake people and spammers on the internet. meeting real people is far more effective.

some may see it as a bad thing that ronpaulforums has less traffic now. i see it as a good thing because people are moving on to the real world to do far greater and more productive things.

RPFs has had a consistent # of unique visitors over 6 months, with a strong increase in pageviews.

[RCA]

I spend over 2 hours a day here, not on those "other" social networking sites... Bryan is Mossad.

I consider this an alternative news site before a social networking one.

[Optatron]

And American Idol is a logical extension of...And Dancing with the Stars is a a logical extension of...And the Super Bowl is a logical extension of...And $4 coffee at Starbucks is a logical extension of...And $200 pair of tennis shoes is a logical extension of...And Granite counter tops and 3 car garages are a logical extension of...And the Wii is a logical extension of...

See where I'm going with that one?


Exactly what I said, connect, entertain, can be both good and bad.




Any technology COULD be used for activism but is the activism outweighing the bread and circus for said device? i.e. television

In addition what good is activism without education? How can someone be on Facebook 2 hours/day and also read great books to make them enlightened?

Someone mentioned in these forums about force fed culture and I wish I knew of a book on this subject.

see krapp.org and lessig, klein, no logo,...etc.

[Optatron]

I have deleted all my social networking pages after discovering how completely infiltrated those private companies are by various local and federal law enforcement agencies.

don't forget this one!

[CitizenPlain]

...

[Kludge]

to gather info to use against us..

CIA, State, or local law; remember

that whatever you allow them to

do to us, can and will be done to

you too!

The Indian police that helped disarm

Geronimo's people, were then disarmed

themselves and put on the same train

to the concentration camps

Ooooh, I can already feel Scott shaking from behind his monitor in his dimly-lit office.

[mediahasyou]

RPFs has had a consistent # of unique visitors over 6 months, with a strong increase in pageviews.

graph?

[MelissaWV]

People will always be as distracted as they allow themselves to be.

Video games, television, social networking, dating websites, IRC, email, the local bar, book club, knitting circle, shopping, radio, and whatever other hobbies they come up with; it all comes back to self-awareness, worth, and control.

[Kludge]

graph?

Alexa doesn't store old graphs and updates often, but you can click here to view: http://alexa.com/siteinfo/ronpaulforums.com

[Kludge]

What are we being distracted from, anyway?

Work?

[Indy Vidual]

What are we being distracted from, anyway?...

Endless wars, zombie banks, warrant-less searches, and more...

[RCA]

Endless wars, zombie banks, warrant-less searches, and more...

what he said

[Optatron]

Endless wars, zombie banks, warrant-less searches, and more...

wouldnt you rather be ignorant and happy than upset at things you can't change?

[Objectivist]

Weigh the positives to the negatives and what do you actually gain with those sites?

[FindLiberty]

I've spotted zombie drones working there at the banks, but isn't
a fed-ural “zombie bank” better described as a vampire bank?

goobermint = Coercive Force = Parasite = Vampire

p.s., speaking of distractions. I really like (killing or getting killed by) some
of the zombies that I’ve met online while playing Zombie Survival (Garrys Mod).

[andrewh817]

Why have a face to face conversation when you can just send your friend texts? With TV...... why do something exciting when you can watch someone else do it? Why spend time getting better at sports when you can watch better athletes play and keep up with the latest steroid scandals? Why spend time mastering guitar when you can just play Guitar Hero? Why travel when there's a whole channel devoted to people traveling? Why worry about your own problems when you can watch faked drama in a random group of preppy teenagers on MTV?

These things are what many Americans do with the LITTLE TIME they spend not working to support the war machine. And anyone's surprised at the state of this country or the idiocy of the average citizen?

It is this vicarious lifestyle that is to blame for no riots when the Patriot Act was passed or when it was reinstated. Notice in Europe all it took was the bank bailouts for people for people to get off their asses (So much for our strong-held beliefs in free market capitalism). It is this vicarious lifestyle that is to blame for people still thinking Obama (and really the president in general) controls the government. We are the most entertained and least educated "developed" country out there.

Society has domesticated us as humans and until you get people to wake up to all the shit being jammed down their throats, this country will continue to get worse and worse.

[MN Patriot]

Why have a face to face conversation when you can just send your friend texts? With TV...... why do something exciting when you can watch someone else do it? Why spend time getting better at sports when you can watch better athletes play and keep up with the latest steroid scandals? Why spend time mastering guitar when you can just play Guitar Hero? Why travel when there's a whole channel devoted to people traveling? Why worry about your own problems when you can watch faked drama in a random group of preppy teenagers on MTV?

These things are what many Americans do with the LITTLE TIME they spend not working to support the war machine. And anyone's surprised at the state of this country or the idiocy of the average citizen?

I think many people are inherently lazy, and would rather sit on their butts and watch somebody else. Which is why socialism has such a broad appeal. Let somebody else take care of you and do your thinking for you.

[bobbyw24]

Facebook revising privacy settings
AFP
Published: Thursday July 2, 2009



Facebook is revising its privacy settings to give the more than 200 million users of the social network the ability to share as much or as little about themselves online as they want.

Chris Kelly, chief privacy officer at the Palo Alto, California-based company, outlined the changes in a post on the Facebook blog.

Kelly said Facebook would now offer a tiered level of privacy options for its users including "all of your friends, your friends and people in your school or work networks, and friends of friends."

There is also an option to publicly share with everyone on the Web in what is being seen as an effort by Facebook to compete with the hot micro-blogging service Twitter.

"To share with more people and contribute to the general conversation going on in the world, you can select 'Everyone,'" Kelly said.

Kelly said, "the power to share is the cornerstone of Facebook."

"Privacy and the tools for tailoring what information is shared with whom are at the heart of trust."

"We're committed to giving people even greater control over the information they share and the audiences with whom they share it," he said.

"At one extreme, we believe people should have the tools to 'broadcast' information across the Web and make it available to everyone.

"At the other extreme, we want to give people the power to limit who should receive any particular piece of information they want to share," he said.

Kelly acknowledged that the privacy settings on Facebook had become "too complicated" and the changes were an effort to "reduce confusion."

Kelly said the revised privacy settings would be offered first to a select group of users over the next few weeks.

"After the testing and feedback phase is complete, we expect to offer final versions of the tool and the new settings to everyone on Facebook," he said.

http://rawstory.com/news/afp/Facebook_revising_privacy_settings_07022009.html

[123tim]

wouldnt you rather be ignorant and happy than upset at things you can't change?

If this country didn't have an ignorant majority, things would change.