Just a Thought – This Blackout Thing

Watching the weird ‘blackout” request go racing through Facebook last weekend brought home three important points.

  1. Facebook can be a farce; get a request from a ‘friend’ and you just do what they ask? Nor research, no follow up – just do it?
  2. Our trust is being used as a weapon against us; take  a moment and wonder what this request is about.
  3. If you decide to participate, what does that mean?

With many people investing time in watching the Kavanugh hearings, I don’t know how everyone stepped past the double entendre of “blacking out” from drinking or blacking out a profile picture. Or the idea of making all the women disappear; isn’t the want Congress had in mind anyway?

Imagine if Mark Zuckerberg or any of his employees or clients posted a thread “Simon Says – post your Social Security number- it’s for a good cause!”  What harm do we choose to cause ourselves?

This ‘blackout’ thing, right after the news that 50 million accounts have been “compromised” and your personal info, baby pictures and relationships status, is now in the hands of some Cambridge Analytica crew, or some organization equally corrupt?

From Allyson Kapin at Forbes,  “This is not a movement! It’s spam and the equivalent of chain mail. If you research its origin you will quickly see there is no official group or organization behind it. It was started as early as 2017 and claimed it was to send a message about domestic violence or sexual assault. Why is chain mail like this counterproductive to moving the needle on issues like sexual assault or domestic violence or frankly any issue? They are not tied to any specific advocacy goals or strategic impact. For example, there is no message about contacting your Senators about specific bills, such as reauthorizing the Violence Against Women Act, which is set to expire this weekend!”

I know – it’s habit. We trust our friends, even our FB ‘friends’ but trusting people you don’t know makes you gullible. At this point in civilization, that makes you an easy mark. Don’t volunteer to be conned.

There’s no need for me to erase my profile pic, I’m a cartoon princess. Because I think Mark Zuckerberg already knows as much as he needs to know about me. Maybe more than enough.

Judith Martin-Straw

The Actors' Gang

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