Reporter's Note: Not a day passes without me writing a letter to President Obama. A remarkable number, however, slip by with no response.
Dear Mr. President,
With all the kerfuffle over Facebook finally going public, I find myself pondering once again why this “thing” is supposedly worth so much money. Yes, I know a sizeable portion of our economy is now based on service and tech industries, and F’book counts in both categories. I realize that millions of people can’t imagine a day without updating their status or checking on what their friends are up to. And yet, I must say I’m still not impressed.
I have a Facebook account, but I don’t really know why. Every few weeks I sign in to see if somehow I’ve missed the point of the whole thing, and each time it continues to elude me.
Don’t get me wrong. I like people. I like knowing what they’re up to. But F’book seems to be constantly boiling over with posts about what people ate for lunch, or some inspirational sign they saw, or some video clip of a dog sneezing. When I signed up, I thought I might enjoy seeing pictures of friends and acquaintances, and sure enough, that was fascinating. For about six minutes.
I post things about myself once in a while, but I always feel weirdly egocentric even doing that. I mean, seriously, anyone who is really a friend already knows what I’m up to, and anyone who is not…do they care? Should they? I don’t think so.
Not to be mean about it, but I guess I just find Facebook boring; a land of shallow observations, goofy pictures, and cheap gossip, where time goes to die.
I know you’re a pretty techie kind of guy, so take heart: I won’t give up yet. Clearly if so many of my fellow Americans love this thing, and if investors are willing to spend as much money as they seemed poised to shell out for a piece of it, I must be missing something. But I can’t bring myself to invest too much in the quest for “Facebook meaning.” To me, it is at best a fun little fad. And, btw, woe unto all those investors if that turns out to be true.
Hope all is well with you.
Regards,
Tom