Connections to "friends" on social networking sites can have their benefits, though, a bit like that 6th pint, can also have their detriments.
My plaxo account for instance, is spammed by inane one liners from someone whom I'm not that friendly with, but connected to flippantly during a moment when I was feeling needy.
Why is he telling me all this? I don't care that he is stuck in traffic/meetings/bored/hungry/horny. When I log in, I want reassurance, love and attention from those I have carefully chosen as my friends. I don't care what they are doing.
To understand why people bother with twitter, I signed up and went exploring.
I saw the hook almost immediately. It is a small icon that flashes "followers" when you mouse over it. What ever marketing freak dreamed that up was some special kind of genius. Suddenly I was like god (or was it jesus?...whatever) and had my own band of disciples hanging on every word I wrote. Soon, even people I didnt' know were listening.
4 seconds of Research turned up exactly what was happening. Micro Fame.
There are further benefits of course. I don't have to actually talk to people about stuff I micro blog. If you're famous enough, you only need to say things once, and that might as well be on twitter.
All these new technologies don't enhance communication like the publicity would like us to believe, but actually replaces it.
"I'm going on my OE, Dad. I won't write or call, but you can tune in to my micro blog and stay up-to-the-minute.... bye"
And my old-skool friends? The ones that don't blog/tweet/book/space/link? Well the path to fame is littered with the corpses of the weak.
I didn't write this below. I .. umm.. found it. I completely agree with it though.
Suppose that every day, ten men go out for beer and the bill for all ten comes to $100. If they paid their bill the way we pay our taxes, it would go something like this:
The first four men (the poorest) would pay nothing.
The fifth would pay $1.
The sixth would pay $3.
The seventh would pay $7.
The eighth would pay $12.
The ninth would pay $18.
The tenth man (the richest) would pay $59.
So, that's what they decided to do.
The ten men drank in the bar every day and seemed quite happy with the arrangement, until one day, the owner threw them a curve. 'Since you are all such good customers,' he said, 'I'm going to reduce the cost of your daily beer by $20.' Drinks for the ten now cost just $80.
The group still wanted to pay their bill the way we pay our taxes so the first four men were unaffected. They would still drink for free.
But what about the other six men - the paying customers? How could they divide the $20 windfall so that everyone would get his 'fair share?' They realized that $20 divided by six is $3.33. But if they subtracted that from everybody's share, then the fifth man and the sixth man would each end up being paid to drink his beer. So, the bar owner suggested that it would be fair to reduce each man's bill by roughly the same amount, and he proceeded to work out the amounts each should pay.
And so:
The fifth man, like the first four, now paid nothing (100% savings).
The sixth now paid $2 instead of $3 (33%savings).
The seventh now pay $5 instead of $7 (28%savings).
The eighth now paid $9 instead of $12 (25% savings).
The ninth now paid $14 instead of $18 (22% savings).
The tenth now paid $49 instead of $59 (16% savings).
Each of the six was better off than before. And the first four continued to drink for free. But once outside the restaurant, the men began to compare their savings.
'I only got a dollar out of the $20,'declared the sixth man. He pointed to the tenth man,' but he got $10!'
'Yeah, that's right," exclaimed the fifth man. 'I only saved a dollar, too. It's unfair that he got ten times more than I got'
'That's true!!' shouted the seventh man. 'Why should he get $10 back when I got
only two? The wealthy get all the breaks!'
'Wait a minute,' yelled the first four men in unison. 'We didn't get anything at all. The system exploits the poor!'
The nine men surrounded the tenth and beat him up.
The next night the tenth man didn't show up for drinks so the nine sat down and had beers without him. But when it came time to pay the bill, they discovered something important. They didn't have enough money between all of them for even half of the bill!
And that, ladies and gentlemen, journalists and college professors, is how our tax system works. The people who pay the highest taxes get the most benefit from a tax reduction. Tax them too much, attack them for being wealthy, and they just may not show up anymore. In fact, they might start drinking overseas where the atmosphere is somewhat friendlier.
For those who understand, no explanation is needed.
For those who do not understand, no explanation is possible.
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