Tag Archives: LinkedIn

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Believing virtual data, the new #myth

Romulus and Remus founded Rome. Aliens built the pyramids. Human beings are not the cause of global warming. Myths are part of the human experience. Their value lies in what they teach us about ourselves, not in their truth. Myths are not lies. They are deliberate untruths. They are narratives, stories with morals and lessons.

They were, that is, until recently. Modern myths are spun to sway voters on the right or the left. They are woven from lies and half-truths. The agenda of the modern myth teller is not to illuminate but obfuscate.

Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn are examples of modern myth telling. Have you noticed LinkedIn’s new feature, “endorsement”? Today I was notified of a new endorsement by someone I do not know. If I accept it, my profile looks stronger. And I am socially obligated to recognise the endorsement in some form. My experience begs the question, are LinkedIn data to be trusted?

The same question should be asked of data spewed forth by pollsters. Who answers honestly when called anonymously for a point of view. Study after study has shown that answers to income questions are seldom truthful. So prevalent is this “myth” making that survey specialists suggest that the income question never be asked.

If we cannot trust data, then we must not allow polls to influence critical decisions. We must look within not without, trusting in our own judgment, not the anonymous, lying masses.

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Facebook: An Open or Closed Social Network?

Cell phone providers that offer me 2,000 minutes a month in my local calling area frustrate me. My local calling area is the entire darn planet. My social network is global: Taiwan, Ireland, Nova Scotia, Vancouver, the USA, Australia, the UK. I’m the consumer that hates roaming charges and paying long distance fees.

I mention this so you understand why I find the stated mission of Facebook – to connect the world – laughable, even fraudulent. Facebook redefines openness, so much that it seems to be  a synonym for closed.

Consider this:

  • You must declare your “area” when you join – restricting you until you can prove that you have reason to stray outside the boundaries [Linked in is equally restrictive.]
  • You must be at least 13 years of age to participate.
  • You cannot connect to China – a Chinese regulation not a Facebook limitation.
  • You cannot erase your participation – only put it in stasis.
  • You cannot undo a like, the action that keeps on giving long after its usefulness
  • You cannot push a button to express a dislike.
  • 800 billion people don’t belong to Facebook, as promoted by Facebook – because members can register more than one persona. The numbers are inflated.
  • When 800 billion people register – you can no longer call the network closed – especially when users can use their ID to log in to a multitude of other sites.

Nope – Facebook is neither closed nor open – it is an aggregator of personal data.

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Pinterest’s Facebook Connection

By definition, social networks are closed communities, analogous to systems. The communities may overlap to varying degrees. Shared interests or connections are the key to membership in a social network. Take a moment to consider the number of social networks to which you belong. My list begins with family. I have been working contracts recently, so my “work” social network, is actually a number of unique circles, one of which overlaps with a network of friends of long-standing. I suppose I could say I have one network called friends, but unlike Facebook, my friends don’t all move in the same circles. My friends network is really a collection of circles within circles, with only the slightest overlap.

That was a description of my 3D living relationship to social networks, which, you will note, I could not describe without mentioning one virtual network Facebook. Facebook is fast becoming the most open closed network in the world. That is driving me crazy. Just as I do in 3D I want to control who knows whom within my social networks – and not because I have something to hide. This desire to contain has nothing to do with kinks, but has everything to do with public presentation. That need to make a positive first impression is the reason that Linkedin works. Who you are on Linkedin is not who you are on Facebook or YouTube. Just as who you are at work is not who you are at home with friends. Unfortunately Facebook’ is fast becoming ubiquitous.

That is the reason that I hate Pinterest and I haven’t even joined yet. Although I received 6 invitations this morning from some auto-responder function with diarrhea. Every one of the crafted-to-be-warm-and-welcoming robotic messages explained that the only method for creating a Pinterest account was to use my Facebook login. Son of a tetra-bite, I don’t want to give one more external online entity permission to access my Facebook profile. Pinterest claims it won’t post messages to my Facebook wall – slippery slope folks: Because Facebook makes it so hard to undo anything – even deleting a Facebook page.

I am a social integration specialist. The irony of my absolute loathing of the Let’s-build-our-site-so-people-ca-log-on-with-Facebook trend and the fact that I advise folk how to integrate social networks is not lost on me.

So Pinterest here I come. I feel like I have sold my soul to the devil.

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Day 2: The Redefining of Polarprisca

For six and a half years I immersed myself in all things polar. The day began with a perusal of Arctic and Antarctic news, which I shared through this blog, and most recently, the Linkedin group – Polar Professionals. Five days a week, from 9 to 5, the polar regions were forefront, and when the worked called for it, the weekends too!

I am now free to redefine myself: free to take on a new persona. Evolve, as my pal Trish is wont to say. Yet, I am not ready to let go of the polar in me. There are places in the North I’ve yet to see. The South is my siren’s call.

First step, then, is to consider how I can retain polar in the evolution of me. Redefining is out. Evolution is in. Stay tuned.