Kicking Facebook...

Where, oh where, in the web-o-sphere have I been? Sad to say, some while back, when my Blog posts dried up, it was because I became totally hooked on Facebook. It became all-too addicting -- reveling in those FB “likes” and keeping up to date with what merry mischief my sociable friends are up to. Having a “smart phone” had a lot to do with it. FB is a total “time hog,” because I have to constantly correct, edit, and re-correct all the auto-changes and word substitutions triggered by each of my slang-heavy quips.

Everything FB critics warned the public about attention and focus is true. I stopped reading books, blogging, and watching video. I imagine it’s because a little squirt of super-pleasurable dopamine is released with the “social acceptance” of each “like” feedback notice. Pretty soon, the susceptible are behaving much like online poker addicts – hooked on maintaining the flow of those neurotransmitters of joy. Guilty.

On FB, I also started “stretching out” from my savant-like “hyper-focus” on original comic book art at work, and I was totally grooving on sharing images of my favorite landscape paintings and illustration art pieces. I estimate I am only using about 35% of my “total art knowledge” for my occupation as the world’s greatest comic art cataloger -- so I got carried away with the uninhibited fun of my new “free-range” art celebrations. Old art history networks, long dormant, fired up again.  Unfortunately, a friend pointed out that my numerous FB posts had become like a “RSS feed into the brain of Don Mangus.” At least they weren’t political diatribes.

All this time away from my Blogs will not be a total loss, though. I’m going to transfer some of the more relevant topics I covered on FB over to these more “universal” blogs.

I’m very interested in the idea of using social networks to help heal anxiety disorders, share information, and be a positive influence in general. Used properly, in moderation, FB could be a helpful adjunct to the blog.

And so, I vow to start reading real books again and unplug some. It’s time to reign in my recent FB addiction.

They Earn Their Money the Old-Fashioned Way --They Cheat Dept. : Fakebook

Kitty says, "Smirkbook."

Facebook admits millions of accounts are fake
Posted: Aug 02, 2012

MYFOXNY.COM - Facebook's share price dipped below $20 on Thursday after reporting slowing growth and an admission of an alarming number of fake accounts.

In a quarterly filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, the social media company said that as many as 83 million of its accounts are fake.

It also reported that as many as five percent of its active users have duplicate accounts.
Facebook members grew to 955 million this year.

It says 1.5 percent of its accounts are likely spam or accounts set up for other malicious activity.  The fake accounts are concentrated in developing markets, according to the filing.
It also blames people who set up accounts for non-human entities, such as pets.

There are "inherent challenges" in measuring usage," the social network said.

"We are continually seeking to improve our ability to identify duplicate or false accounts and estimate the total number of such accounts, and such estimates may be affected by improvements or changes in our methodology," the filing continued.

The number of real users is important for Facebook as it seeks to sell advertising.
Facebook shares are down almost 50 percent from its $38 May IPO.

Read more: http://www.myfoxny.com/story/19180366/facebook-admits-millions-of-accounts-are-fake#ixzz22PsjJpO9