A buddhist, a confucianist and a daoist walk into a heavily packed bar: buddhist says, ‘we’ll be one with the crowd until we reach the bar’, confucianist gets to work on a map while the daoist has flagged their mate at the bar who’s already ordering for them.

Forewarning: the following is unedited.

And the problem, as I see it, with facebook is that it always knew what it was..a representation of a slimeball's world view pretending to be a connection platform.

Someone quite sensible (I forget who) said "the opposite of addiction is connection". Think about it, AA doesn't work because of god, it works because people there look out for each other, open up and unburden themselves of their past offenses. Now if you believe in god, I assume it's assumed god is working good deeds through them or attribute that to the people and say god's goodness simply shows in them (humans being mere representations of his awesome power). [Sorry I'm in a foul mood].

So facebook knows that in order to feel like people in this increasingly populated world who often cluster due to sensible things like where rent is affordable (rather than building near people they like) feel the need to connect with others, most easily achieved online. I don't know why myspace stopped getting users and facebook took off, frankly unless its illegal I don't care right now.

People who seek connection online will often forgo sensible things like being able to see a face (know that it belongs to the person speaking) and make a decision about what's happening based on an array of micro expressions which most of the time we're almost entirely unaware that we're interpreting, or like having an unconscious count of how long you've been in the room with someone .. okay so the human element's out. But as they say, 'all the love you have is in your mind' and you can feel that through a screen so there's something people seek anyway. Particularly people on the fringes (by law of averages fringe hobbyists etc. will be fewer, further between), and since most people have a few fringe interests (some of mine are peculiar film, wood carving techniques, court room debates & discussions, the board game Go) there's something that most people will want to find alongside people they hopefully want to get to know. This makes it easy to find those people, the behaviour is characteristic. Facebook runs all kinds of analytics to this end of seeking key types, you'll see some of this in the news over the last four years as well as the facebook ceo saying 'lying is bad' with an expression of 'we all know my hand is in the cookie jar, I'm just gonna take it out slow and hope I don't have to pay for this.. again'.

Connection, yeah? Also, external/internal validation and self-image reinforcement because, yeah the mind is kind of silly and full of things that mirror and internalise the external conditions of worth and so forth. So when people need, not want, to connect in situations more like AA but without a group to go to they'll look to people networks (things like insta, tiktok being more for the flicking addiction than connecting, usually). Facebook seems partly so popular because of the flicking addiction.. and there's the first thread of real problem for me. Addictions will transfer, quit coffee for a week and your need to chew the top of your pencil will get as bad (or close to) the need for a fucking coffee (sorry I need more coffee brb).... Say you're trying to quit smoking, when you're waiting for something and would've smoked but- fingers want to do things, grab the phone and flick on fb for a while, first time it's probably easy to distract yourself but as the cravings get worse it's going to take more flicking. It's designed to work this way.

Next up, we all know what it's like. You don't post a status saying 'it's raining and my head hurts and life just sucks today' (unless you're seeking pity / comfort and your people are okay with it being done that way or haven't challenged yet), you post a picture when you've cooked a fucking awesome meal.. after it's raining and everything's grey. People looking at it might feel like they just got home and their day has been shit and you have an awesome meal and that sucks for them. We know this pattern, fomo, jealousy, schadenfreude etc. Some of the people we're talking about will internalise these feelings, if not the first time then the hundred first etc. and because there's no human element it's very easy to be a whole lot harder on yourself than the other person would actually be, and even to put your negative feelings on the person who's just pleased they've made good food when they felt crap. This stuff spirals on fb, there's only the context that people actively give (in person people accidentally give off so many cues, micro expressions again), fb has nothing to counter this pattern (myspace had multiple sections as well as status, twitter has trending etc).

And there's the games. Oh we've all seen by now the late nights and documentaries or even the South Park episode on them. Analytics and games work together and that whole structure of the industry got a huge leg up from facebook. They've killed and ruined people. Real people. Enough on that one, we can all see how addiction can transfer that way.

Lastly (that I can think of right now as I'm ranting) there's the fucked up version of connection that facebook inspires. I've long heard and understood the necessity of the human networks that form on facebook. Hell, I only had a sofa this christmas because someone went on facebook and found a free sofa. And these networks are vital but they are made of the people not the platform.

Apple stays on top partly because the products are designed to work differently and there's a learning curve to switching brands.. it makes people feel stupid.. they name their shops genius bars.. it's crude but effective. Facebook do something similar by keeping people in fb messenger, event manager etc you can send a message to anyone within the fb network, no one outside but it's free and takes like 30 seconds to sign up.. and now people are adding you on fb, suggesting events and suddenly we only want messengers outside of it if they're encoded to hide the porn and weed and there's no need for musicians & bands etc to make their own site when fb host a page (that you can pay to promote, so long as you keep paying) and youtube's always there as a back up. Once you're in it.. You know old phone trees? They were about the people involved.. fb??

My point is connection isn't meant to be the driving power for advertising, analytics and a whole lot slimier stuff.. it's a very fucking necessary part of being human.. if someone supports you so that you give them all your money in the will, well there's either an abuse or an understanding there. I don't think vulnerable people are understanding these things about facebook.

You know, I can't not.. I just..
the following thing sucks
Facebook is soul sucking. And.. I have no evidence, this is personal experience, helpful as an anecdote.. I once found a child being auctioned and they wouldn't take the page down for something like three days.. as far as I could tell the child was sold. Facebook is soul sucking and fucking evil and 'lying is bad'.

The problem, as I see it, with the advertising industry is that it doesn't take into account what it is. It's verbal and visual communication designed to effect the behaviour of the recipient: manipulation.

Context: you know, when you've had a long day and someone you love asks you a simple  request (e.g. to make a coffee) and you really don't want to but do it anyway because.. thay have a hot coffee, well that's a pretty awesome feeling. And when you've had a long day and someone who's been pissing you off asks you a simple request that's only going to take a minute but you don't want to and you do it anyway because.. they have the hot coffee, well that's a more sour experience.

Advertising is taking the human element out of this but the human mind is.. simple, it retains emotional context from similar past experience even when the real context is vastly different (you can be getting on a plane to Africa or coldest Russia, the bits of you that don't have eyes and ears only know you're on a plane). And you, I, everyone responds this way somewhere in their thoughts (get a really good body-high sometime ;) you'll know what I mean).

Between people there's ways to ask for a coffee after a long day ('I love you' helps) without being rude and there's ways to just pester to get what you want ('Oh plleeeeeaasseeee!' comes to mind) and depending on the circumstances we balance our relationships and requests with, you know, just how long that day has been and if they owe you one etc. We know advertising, because it's pre-recorded, takes the human side out and a lot of the situational things with it.. it's more akin to leaving a voicemail asking for coffee after a long day (long day being analogy for the tired way people view ads).

So people writing ads are people having probably quite long days and trying to make something their bosses & clients think will sell, and the bosses or clients are trying to get business because they've probably got bosses or rent to pay soon and bills due sometime and all the human and situational stuff's already out. So it makes a kind of sense that we end up with 'We buy many cars! Buy cars! YABBADOO!! And Apples, they make you happy!!'

But even if it makes sense... it's been a really long day and I'm tired of being pestered at.

Reasons why understanding is helpful #2,398,776,764,587,498,398,475,487









Good luck for the new year folks