Information Hogs

I don't really consider myself a tech geek, and I'm definitely not up on all the latest gadgets, computer technology and "social media" avenues out there. I don't even own an IPOD or use I-tunes, and I don't intend to in the future, mostly because I like the radio and I don't see the use of spending money to do the work of making my own playlist - I prefer to be surprised. I don't use Twitter, and I recently deleted my Friendster profile because it was one too many "profiles" to maintain. What I do use is Facebook, and I've been using it since 2003 to keep in touch with friends and share pictures and contact info. Some of the games on there, like Scrabble, have been fun too.

But here's where I am starting not to like Facebook - it's becoming, to sum it up, too commercial. For example, they've got all these neat features, like a map where you can "pin" the places you've been to. Well, by signing up to use this "tool", you give whoever made the map program permission to use your personal information from your profile, and the personal information of any of your friends for marketing purposes. I don't like that.

Now, I don't want to seem like an old stick in the mud, but I'm not a big fan of the "improvements" being made on Facebook - like advertisements that use information from your profile. I guess the marketers like to call these "targeted messages". For example, if I look at my husband's profile, I see ads with headlines like "trying to have a baby?" Yeah, it's that creepy.

But what's really starting to get to me is the idea of a "Feed". It's a big deal in marketing right now, as companies try to "feed" you, "the consumer", their goods in "innovative" ways using the "web 2.0" and "social media". OK, I understand, everyone's trying to make a buck in this economy, but it seems to be getting out of control. Not only are targeted ads using my personal information to entice me to consume goods, but now when I click to look at my list of friends to see who has new info (I suppose this counts as a "feed"), Facebook instead takes me to a page that says "We'd like to help you find your friends". Oh really? Gee, I thought I already found them, and that's why I'm trying to look at my friend list!

What it really comes down to is Facebook wants to grow their marketing database and sell more ads. Sure, sounds great if you're trying to sell something, but it starts making Facebook less useful for me and many others, I'm sure. I guess people are starting to use Facebook to market themselves and their services, but I'm not.

So here's what I have to say about the direction that "social media" seems to be moving - I am not your fat pig to consume your "feed" at an electronic marketing trough.

It's too bad, I used to really like the site for its simplicity and ease of keeping in touch with my friends. And to be honest, I don't mind having some ads in exchange for keeping the site free. But this kind of information-pulling from the people most important in my life is not something I condone.

Name change is official!

Over a year after we got married, I finally legally changed my name! I had been using my married name in the UK, which is fine, but still had to change all my US government documents. It's amazing how many places you need to change your name, and what kind of documentation you need to do it. The Registry of Motor Vehicles gave me a lot of trouble over changing my name on my driver's license because I didn't have a government document with my married signature on it, nor a bill in my married name. I don't know how you're supposed to have your married name on things before it's even changed! But after two visits about about 3 hours of waiting, I have my new driver's license with my married name.

But as time goes on, I realized there's more and more things where my name is now wrong - frequent flier accounts (you can't change it over the phone), passport, library cards, shopper cards, online accounts (like paypal, wishlists, etc), and on and on. I'm sure I'll find more. Many of these make it so hard to change your name it's easier to just get a new account. But boy, is it annoying!

Well, enough of a rant. What matters is that it's official!