This is an excerpt from a friend on my Facebook stream.
WHY are there so many stupid fan pages on Facebook? Become a fan of “picking your nose with an unprotected finger then wiping your boogers on the Kleenex”. Become a fan of “sometimes I cry in the shower”. Become a fan of “fear of not being a fan of enough Fanpages on Facebook”. I don’t care for this!
I smiled and pondered this for a while.
It’s funny, because I think like a lot of things these days perhaps we have become complacent to so much. Becoming a Fan on Facebook is simply a click of a button. Adding a new friend to your Twitter takes place in less than a second. We want things to be instant; we do not want to have to wait.
The things that come to those who wait will be the scraggly junk left by those who got there first (via @todayslaugh)
But have we become numb in our culture to what perhaps some of our actions are, and what maybe they mean? Do we know what we are becoming a part of? Do we click on a fan page, or add a new friend to our Twitter account and don’t even think about it? Choosing a friend used to be a big-ticket item. Saying that you are a fan of something could that mean you may have to defend what it stands for at some point.
I can remember back when I was a kid I was an avid reader of the comic book the Beano. And you could become a member of the Dennis the Menace and Gnasher (his dog) fan club…what an honour to be part of the ‘in crowd’. So at the ripe old age of eight I cut out the coupons from the comic book wrote my details in my atrocious handwriting, stuck it in an envelope, went down to the post office and paid for a stamp out of my pocket money and waited. And waited… and waited for what seemed like an eternity. It was probably around about three weeks. And then it arrived, the excitement of finally becoming a true member of the Dennis the Menace fan club. It had a badge that I can proudly display on my chest to say that I was a true fan. It also came with secret pass codes for what I can’t remember. And also the o’ so import membership card that I could place in my non-existent wallet, which I could have pulled out and proudly displayed at any time as proof to all my friends that yes I was a fan I was part of a club.
Currently due too social media strategies I am again part of a Group MOvember. A strange collection of mustache growing guys(BRO’s ) and their girls worldwide who are participating in raising money for awareness for prostate cancer. I changed my avatar on my face book and Twitter page so that I can proudly display I am part of this group I am a fan. But people let me tell you all this stuff is work, I had to grow mustache, and for a guy like me this is an effort. But for the first time in a long while I am proud to say I am part of a club I am a fan and hopefully an effort is going to raise money for a great cause.
Seth Godin’s book Tribes touched the subject of belonging and what it means to our culture, and how the Internet is changing the way we interact with people.
Now the Internet has eliminated the barriers of geography, cost, and time. All those blogs and social networking sites are helping existing tribes get bigger and enabling new tribes to be born-groups of 10 or 10 million who care about their iPhones, or a political campaign, or a new way to fight global warming.
So what group or organization do you belong to? What fan pages are on your Facebook? Are you a big Sports fan, Celebrity fan or Music fan? Can you stand in front of a crowd and be proud of your Cultural Tribe. Do you read a profile before you add a new friend? Or do you just click cause well your friend sent you a link?
We would love to hear your comments no matter how short or long.