FAKEbook: Is anything real anymore?

Nothing excites me more than that little red box on the top left-hand corner. That’s what keeps me coming back – over and over and over – again throughout the day, looking for more numbers, because without them, I just don’t know what I would do. That’s why I’ll post adorable pictures of my son on Facebook just before the weekend and wait till Sunday to check how high I’ve scored (thank God he’s cute and can get me into the double digits). And that’s why I’ll keep the fact that I recently bought a new car hush hush until I can post it as my status – even though I was just with a friend – hoping that she will congratulate me, but (oh, please God) do it on my wall.

But that’s where I have to take a step back to think, ‘what is it that makes me so obsessed?’ Why do I need people’s comments and Likes to feel like I’m worth anything? Are all those birthday wishes even real? While this is starting to look like a Psych major’s view of social media (which I am), I guess that’s what this is.

LOL AWW OMG FAIL
So I just got through rating Riri’s23K Mane and More Star Oddities (can you believe Donald Trump has 24-karat gold-plated seatbelts?!) Problem is, I found myself quite confused. When did it get to the point that we are asked to react and rate everything with overused one word expressions that all the kids are using these days? I feel like my mom hacked into my MSN Messenger, and is trying to finally reach out to me by being cool on my level (How do you find mommy’s outfit today dear? LOL – in one word)

First, I have to picture my dear old grandma trying to do this, and FAILing badly at it (AWW). Second, what will happen to words and to writers like me (OMG!) if we’re never asked to think for ourselves anymore? I don’t want to be a mindless drone, I don’t care that 42% of people think it’s AWW that Kate Middleton spends $1,500 on air fresheners. I think it’s weird, and I’d like a chance to say that in more than 1 word. That’s why a blog is such a great outlet for thoughts, emotions and expressions – I get to say what I think in over 400 words and you can comment back.

If you Like me, you’ll Like my whatever
Love me, just say that you’ll love me; fool me, go on and fool me (remember that song?) What used to be a simple expression of approval has been transformed into an over-solicited marketing ploy. Like Snoop Dogg’s perfume and it becomes cheaper, Like a page on Facebook and you get a coupon; our Likes are becoming used and abused and it’s not long until what we say we Like loses all meaning at all. ‘The more consumers outside the industry Like brands on Facebook for shallow reasons, the more shallow and the less meaning Liking will have. They’ll feel jaded by the endless commercial messaging and be turned off what could be genuinely engaging content or information.’

The solution? Give them something to really Like. Post interesting updates, industry know-how and go back to the basics – give them a real reason to come to you, even if it’s tips for arranging flowers for connoisseurs.

#sm
My new obsession is Twitter. At first I didn’t get it, then I dabbled and suddenly stopped, but now I’m like an OCD maniac who has to check one more time, just in case there’s an interesting link that I might have missed (so that I can post it in my own words), and who will say or do whatever it takes to get more followers (please follow me @reemdab, please!) What have I learned from all of that? It’s not just about posting ‘I ate a doughnut today’; it’s about manipulating hash tags and @s to bait new followers. It’s a complicated science that needs a lot of work, just to pull off a tiny little Tweet. My problem: a lot of these Tweets will ask me to go to an article, but once I’m there, I’m sorry I ever came. Don’t fool me with your one liners, please be real or at least be interesting when I get there.

SEO
This is a little spat that I’ve been having with my blog colleague George; as an online specialist, it’s his job to make sure we’re found. So while I’ll want to say: Fakebook: Is anything real anymore? He’ll want me to say ‘How Social Media has lost its Impact’ We have gone back and forth, making compromises that use a little bit of my creativity and his knack for social media, but the thing is I don’t want to name my piece ‘5 Ways Social Media is Changing’, sure for some articles this title is a perfect fit, but after looking at statistics and keywords, I can’t help thinking, I don’t want to trick people into reading my articles.

The thing is people are getting bored with social media. It’s time to stop looking at what others are doing, forget COPY/PASTE and stop using statistics to trap people. I personally don’t care if 5 vs. 50 people Like me, as long as the 5 who do like me, actually read my blog – and that will be my new thing: writing for the joy of writing, writing to teach you something and writing to make you think. That’s how I’ll get my 50.

Remember what it meant to be creative – before creative became a cliché?