Dear Facebook, It has been a lot of Politics as of Late…But.
Yes, it has. In the past month we have talked about the horrors that be in Arizona, abortion in Oklahoma, and President Obama being tried for treason in New York. I would like to think that each article, essay, post, what ever you choose to label them as, have given pleasurable experiences to those readers that manage to stumble upon this treasure. I say treasure, because I would like to think this blog o’ mine is a diamond in the rough, is it? Today, I would like to write something just a little bit different… Stray from the norm.
Let’s talk a little bit about Facebook, and spend a little less time on it for the next few moments. It is the social website we all hate, but are secretly nursing deep affairs with. We bad mouth it to our friends, like we do that one girl from that one night who wore that heinous outfit and said those stupid things but secretly we dish with her every night before we fall asleep. Facebook is that girl.
I remember the day I created an account for Facebook fondly. My account was made when you were required to have a college e-mail, for my high school class, Facebook was a technological rite of passage. Now, just about four years later, 60% of current Facebook users are considering leaving. And, on May 31st, more than 11,000 people have committed to Quit Facebook Day. To complete the downward slope, according to Search Engine land blog, ‘how to delete my Facebook account’ has become an ever-popular search.
Dear Facebook, what happened?
One, Big, Happy Family?
It was probably somewhere along the lines of turning every interest in to a ‘like’ page, or allowing everyone in the world access to my photos, or maybe, it is the fact you have sold me and my profile out for a few shiny bucks. Ugh, thanks a lot.
I used to believe that only friends could view my profile. Then it became friends of friends could see my where abouts. Then, those in my ‘network’ or in my school. Then, it just got really confusing and I stopped keeping track and just set my profile to private. But, alas, in Facebook world private is not included in any dictionary. Facebook has taken the stance that people enjoy sharing, sharing is caring. How far is this sharing going though? Well, if you have given up on the tedious task of privacy control, pretty damn far.
In case you were unaware, Facebook is probably responsible for some of that lovely spam you receive in your e-mail inbox. It is normal for websites to share a small amount of information with advertisers, such as the advertisements most clicked from a URL. Facebook is different, in that it gives advertisers the unique profile number of its users to advertisers, allowing them to access personal information… Unless you protect it, but honestly, have you ever tried that? It is complex, and forces you to be rather bitter towards even having a profile.
On that topic of sharing is caring, here is some food for thought straight from the Facebook Privacy Policy:
“Pre-Approved Third-Party Websites and Applications. In order to provide you with useful social experiences off of Facebook, we occasionally need to provide General Information about you to pre-approved third party websites and applications that use Platform at the time you visit them (if you are still logged in to Facebook). Similarly, when one of your friends visits a pre-approved website or application, it will receive General Information about you so you and your friend can be connected on that website as well (if you also have an account with that website). “
Of course you can opt out of this ‘social experience’ but should you have to? Why Mark Zuckerburg, why have you done this to us faithful Facebook users?
“Six years ago, we built Facebook around a few simple ideas. People want to share and stay connected with their friends and the people around them. If we give people control over what they share, they will want to share more. If people share more, the world will become more open and connected. And a world that’s more open and connected is a better world. These are still our core principles today.”
From Facebook… Mark Zuckerberg
That explains it; you want us all to be interconnected like one big, happy, advertising supported family. I do not want that family, I would prefer to stick with the close knit group of Facebook friends I have currently. We talk, we do lunch, and they are not willing to give my name away for money just for a ‘social experience’.
Tomorrow afternoon Facebook has promised to unveil a new way of handing its privacy settings. They have “heard the feedback” of their angst filled users, demanding a well deserved change. (We have put up with your disarrayed privacy settings for long enough, you know.) Who knows what that change will be, if any. For now, it is just promised to be a simpler way of controlling your settings. How about just going back to the old Facebook? Ah, the good ol’ days.
But, I digress. As much as I am willing to complain and weep over Facebook’s fast deterioration, I still cherish my moments with it and do not see myself deactivating my account anytime soon. I just hope that they learn, and soon, that my profile is private, and that means no to third parties and just about every one else that is not on my friends list but on that 400 million users list. No Facebook, no.
September 25, 2010
Come One, Come All
These next coming days will probably be the only days I stick to a severely biased news network and do not mind doing so. Why? Well, because for once, they are beyond right and I cannot seem to do anything but nod in agreement with them. The network? Fox News… Now, please, stop shaking your finger at me. The issue? Immigration. I know, immigration has been so drawn out and chatted about it is almost unnerving. But, as long as there are border hoppers and illegal workers illegal immigration will always be relevant, so why not chat some more concerning it?
Everyone knows the deal with illegal immigration. I mean deal as in definition, so far very few parties have made out well in this illegal situation and I am sure you can guess by process of elimination that so far, America has not been one of them. In 2007, America’s immigrant population reached 37.9 million, this including both legal and illegal immigrants. This statistic translates roughly to one in eight of those residing in America to be immigrants. If one would like to go further and know how many of those immigrants happen to be illegal, it is about one in three. Where do many of them hail from? Nearly half of the Mexican immigrants in America are here illegally, along with one half of Central American immigrants and one-third of South American immigrants. It may sound like the singling out of an ethnicity, but it’s not, it is just a cold hard truth.
With this constant flow of negative statistics, a person has to wonder: why are these immigrants coming, and staying, illegally? Is it for the American Dream of that darling cape with a white picket fence? Ah, to have two full sized bathrooms and a breakfast nook. Or is it because they are safer here in the good ole’ United States? I mean, who really wants to stay in Mexico with this unending drug war? No hands? I didn’t think so. Then what is it?
If you could enter a country, nearly free of financial cost, send your children to school without having to pay taxes, and possibly receive government financial aid, wouldn’t you jump on that border crossing band wagon? Welcome to America, land of the free.
I know, illegal immigrants do participate in their share of work, and at a depressingly low cost. Remember, this low cost is generally paid under the table, tax-free. It is that cost that makes these illegal immigrants attractive, and so employable by corporations and small businesses alike. Actually, so employable that they are among the highest percentage of employed people residing in New York City today. Citing recent Census statistics, Mexicans, as the one of the largest immigrant groups present in New York City, are more likely to be employed than an actual New York City native. This employable nonsense is not something that is only harbored in New York City; it is spreading among the country too. Illegal immigrants are taking jobs that should rightfully be handed to those who live in America, legally.
If only the problem with illegal immigration stopped with those who have become employed over legal American citizens. There is also the crime to think about. First off, illegal immigration is a crime punishable by the United States government. A family of illegal immigrants crossing American borders and staying undermines America’s national security and puts a drain on national funding. Though, statistics can be found that illegal immigrants are less likely than an American native to commit a heinous crime due to fear of being deported, isn’t living in America illegally and forcing Americans to pay the way heinous enough?
If all of this is true, then why did Stephen Colbert appear in Congress fighting for rights of immigrants currently residing and working in the United States? He may like to speak out for those who are not usually heard, and fight for their rights but… Why would you give an illegal resident Constitutional rights? I may not have been there when the Bill of Rights was first drafted, but I am immensely confident that “We the People” meant Americans, and those legally residing in America.
Colbert’s show of meager intelligence and mockery was just that, nothing more. Essentially, his satirical notion came down to those illegal immigrants holding agricultural jobs. Colbert, before addressing Congress did participate in a day’s work to become a sort of self-proclaimed expert.
Farm work may be grueling, but does that mean a legal American would deny such a job? I would like to think the answer to that question would be a ‘no’.
Stephen Colbert’s appearance may have been nothing more than a headache inducer, but the Democratic Party seems intent on making illegal immigration more of an everlasting migraine. It looks as if Colbert may have had one thing right, many of them may be out of jobs come November.
This notion in turn brings me to The DREAM (Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors) Act. If I were to go with the nutshell explanation of what The DREAM Act really is, I would tell you it is amnesty for illegal immigrants between the ages of twelve and thirty-five. Oh yes, amnesty. How? By receiving credits in higher education or serving proper military service, those illegal immigrants previously in the United States for five years, can apply and be granted American citizenship. The cost? Well, that would mean American taxes paying for those four years of high school, and the possible years before that, required by any higher education institution. And an illegal immigrant participating opts to go in to the military? Those positions are paid once boot camp is completely. So yes, the Democratic Party wants to pay illegal immigrants to become legal.
Then, what does the Republican Party so desire within the realms of illegal immigration? Do not fret; this issue was rightfully addressed in their newest “Pledge to America”.
This whole debate may sound like it is leaking from a Conservative’s mouth, or maybe even a Tea Partier’s political leanings but isn’t it just common sense that illegal immigrants are illegal? This then striking the possibilities of a well-rounded education, employment opportunities and equal rights… Away? That is what I had though, but who knows, maybe it’s not common sense and somewhere along the way a large group of Americans forgot what “We the People” truly means. Or, maybe that meaning has just evolved in to more of a “Come one, Come all, here is my open wallet” type of interpretation.