As its foundation in 2004, ‘Facebook’ has made it as an giant success story, albeit not one without controversy. Plenty of controversy. But I’m not here to talk about that. I’m here to let you know a little about social networking and why it is a great addition to any Smart TV.
In some ways taking off through the now elapsed ‘Myspace’ and the plethora of imitators it left in its wake, Facebook emerged as champion of the social networks, (until the next one comes along, that is). Facebook has conquered the Internet with a smart exploitation of these 3 ever-reliable principles:
1) People love talking about other people, particularly anonymously.
2) Folks are very keen on and poking their noses into the lifestyles of others.
3) People’s unquenchable self attention, which, when fuelled by Facebook, is narcissism on steroids.
Facebook is a remarkable tool and one that has easily tailored itself to mobile phones, portable devices and now, even TV. Ultimately, Myspace was the cumbersome Neanderthal, who, despite being popular, smarter and more powerful than Homo Sapiens, succumbed to that retreating ice age somewhat speedily, failing to adapt to the world he could no longer understand. Facebook, conversely, was the eventual Cro Magnon victor, shaking in the cave during Neanderthal’s time, he emerged on the warm plains of the modern day and, either directly or indirectly, eliminated his rival before moving within the changing technology and times, to the point he might sit at his desk and update his position several times a day.
‘Twitter’ is a particularly limited site that acts like a miniature Facebook. Users have a number of words to announce their actions, thoughts and/or feelings to the world that frequently does not care unless its worried that it’s being cheated on. However, while famous people on Facebook tend to not update their pages, on Twitter an individual can follow (and sometimes commune with) the activities of Hollywood luminaries, celebrities, sports stars and other notable individuals, who are often surprisingly honest about their day by day lives.
Facebook and Twitter are the two big ones, but there’s others, a lot more than I can add up that follow a similar simple model but specialise in a new area (LinkedIn, for example, deals with business relationships more than personal ones). Many websites co-exist with Facebook nowadays, feeding off their scraps like remoras on the back of the Tiger Shark. With most online content, there’s even an option to ‘Like’ it, thus adding it to your Facebook page (if you look carefully at this page, you’ll almost certainly find one, which serves to spotlight just how all-encompassing Facebook’s presence is.
Smart TV, recognising the ubiquity of such websites and the emphasis that current online business places on this ubiquity, has Facebook, Twitter (and the other social network websites) readily available for download. This means that you can have full (or nearly full) access to your Facebook account and update it without maybe going to a PC. Last night, I had to update my very own Facebook to state that I was watching, for what must be the hundredth time, the movie ‘The 40 Year Old Virgin’ I could have easily done it during a tea break in the movie itself rather than meaning to take action and ultimately forgetting, as I essentially did.
If you’re wondering how folks are doing and you need up-to-the-minute information, Facebook is usually the place to go. Facebook the website is free to use, may be the Smart TV app at time of writing and is a wonderful communication tool, especially for people you don’t essentially know that well. These days, people change their mobile numbers every point three of another, so Facebook remains the one consistent way to ensure you can always keep in touch. I like to think of it like a really badly written newspaper, where the headlines are a bit sunnier, a great deal less biased and contain people I essentially give a damn about.
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