Tuesday, July 19, 2011

Facebook

"When I was first dating my wife, I friended her cat, Maxwell Jeremiah Orangefellow, on Catbook. Stranger yet, my cat, Wallace Beauford Neeley, friended Max as well."   
D.E. Wittkower
Facebook & Philosophy


The level of global participation Facebook has inspired supports Teilhard de Chardin's "Noosphere" theory or "sphere of human thought." 

An existentialist would argue that our life-choices are meaningful, precisely because we choose them. The Facebook effect, as a global village, echoes this theory...



From inspiring Facebook stories honoring the heroic actions of our nation's Army veteran's...
"Some people say the Holocaust never existed;
Tell them to call me." 
To George Orwellian reminders of the potential dark side of Facebook, whereby BIG BROTHER-type warnings appear in the Blogsphere rumoring that Facebook was started by the CIA...
Note: The CIA's National Clandestine Service has a new recruiting tool: 
A Facebook account (login required)...


To pages masterfully showcasing antique pipes as artistically rendered works of art...



To groups like the Epilepsy Warriors that raise awareness while providing a supportive environment whereby members learn about new devices and therapies...


When I look at my morning News Feed, I am delighted by the new real-time roll streaming down the upper right-side of my screen. Not all feeds appear on our Home page, but in response to these lost opportunities, Facebook has upgraded their system to show us real time posts made by friends so we don't miss a beat. 


Watching the stream of posts is interesting, and no doubt an opportunistic way to statistically record categorically interesting posts. From company's gauging the efficacy of their Facebook marketing programs to agencies monitoring for suspicious criminal activity, this feed is surely tied to more robust, complimentary Facebook software systems. 


The majority of the posts I see on my little glimpse of this expansive network are mosty "so-and-so" and "so-and-so" are now friends. 




While some feeds on Facebook ("Fed my pet Iguana today") may seem trivial, there's still meaning in them. From shameless self-promotion, 
        Sophy Laughing           


to groups that follow modern Guru's like Mooji Sangha, the laughing buddha...


to the more sincere "Happy Birthday Mom" 


to beautiful little girls raising awareness for mitochondrial disease...
Halayna's Hope

It's easy to see how someone could become addicted to Facebook.


You know you're addicted to Facebook when...

Your relationship status is only official if its been updated on Facebook

You check your Facebook account more than one time every hour

You have several friends on Facebook that you've never actually met

You take pictures for the sole reason of tagging them on Facebook

You like to be "poked" and you like poking in return

You don't ask for someone's phone number, you ask for their Facebook account



Facebook, like anything else in life, is what we make of it. It will be an interesting to ride the long tail, to see where we travel as a global community of beings. The power of Facebook-like communities do more than chronicle the long tail of global consciousness, they help bring it into being faster!  




Before you know it, we'll be reading Facebook Anthologies, available both on Nook and in print format. I can see it now, beautiful leather-bound Facebook Anthologies, The Golden Years, adorning my coffee table. 







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