Is Facebook the Brave New World?

As I sat down with a cup of coffee this morning and started reading my Facebook page, I saw where a friend of mine had voted on yet another Facebook opinion poll.
Along with 3, 565 other people, my friend had voted “no” in the “Un-Americans” poll, which read:

Question: "Nancy Pelosi says that citizens of the United States who disagree with health care reform are Un-American. Do you agree?"
- Yes
- No
- Maybe

Well, gee. Who would vote yes on that? What a stupid thing for Pelosi to say. So I Googled it.

It turns out that what Pelosi had actually stated was that she felt that the people who are disrupting Town Hall meetings and shouting down the opposition were being un-American. It’s okay to disagree; but people should be allowed to be heard.

I learned about Facebook at a seminar I took on social networking. In my seminar, I learned that social networking sites like Facebook can be used to promote your business. I’ve got friends; my friends have friends; their friends have friends. Used wisely, you can get unlimited exposure without the cost of advertising. What a great idea.

But these polls! Who writes this stuff? I’m certain that there are people with vested interests in both sides of the healthcare debate creating misleading polls in order to sway public opinion. And other issues, too.

Voting in a Facebook poll doesn’t really mean anything. Or does it?

On Facebook you can see how your friends voted and they can see how you vote, On Facebook, people are quite often sheep, going along with the opinions of their friends for the same reasons they did way back in high school. Rather than checking the facts and daring to be different, they want to be part of the crowd. It's a subtle and easy way to encourage groupthink by manipulation.

Is there any way to know which Facebook user created a poll? Was it your BFF Susan or was it an insurance lobbyist?

In today’s new information age, it is more important than ever that we take responsibility for sorting through all the information at our fingertips, and finding out which information is reliable and which isn’t.

At the very least, it might keep your mother from forwarding yet another email about catching HIV from infected needles hidden on gasoline pump handles. And when you find a misleading poll on Facebook, rather than rolling your eyes or biting your tongue, announce to all the other poll voters that what they’re voting on is nothing more than another case of misinformation designed to make them get into lockstep with whatever idea they’re trying to get across.

Be the black sheep. If you’re losing friends for telling the truth, then maybe you need new friends.

So now I’m wondering if I should start my own fake Facebook poll. And how much I can get paid for doing it. I just heard that Sarah Palin wants a bill to okay the killing of all the polar bears in Alaska. Do you agree?

Yes
No
Maybe

Wink wink. You decide.

The Fall

At this remove
it seems clear
The star you thought
you were
was shaken
from the tree, fallen
from such a height,
dashed and bruised and
worth less
than you were before

It must hurt. This lessening,
this diminished
sense of mind. Or
is it not yet real?
Do you still
bend down from
your heavens to
squint through the
clouds at my unself?
My nonpersona?

Nevermind. Go
climb back up
the bark,
find the high
limbs that touch
the twinkle. Sink
back
into your loft.

Smile.

Like there's nothing
in this world that's
wrong.