“Dear Students: Get your heads out of Facebook and Twitter. Why be a “follower” of someone else’s success?? Why waste your life’s clock “following” the talking heads, superficial celebrities, or temporary sports stars??? Being a “follower” will not improve your life, help you make money, find love, have fun, nor be of any benefit to you whatsoever. But for sure, your being a follower helps those that are successful be more successful. They can say: Look how many (stupid) followers I have, I deserve a promotion! Or, look how many followers I have, how popular I am, I am worth more money. Facebook and Twitter exist so that successful people and businesses can sell more stuff, advertise to more people, and self-promote themselves.”
So says Dr. Walter Drake, Director of Blue Marble University, which offers online BA, MA, and PhD degrees in science and humanities, including Chinese language, at very modest cost. Dr. Drake goes on to say:
“Now Tweets are even “newsworthy”. In one big revolving circus of self-promotion and self aggrandizement, the talking heads discuss each others Tweets, and all so that you can be identified and cataloged for advertising purposes, and be there so they can sell you their tote bags, worthless books, and other similarly valued junk.
If you have read this far, hopefully you might be beginning to realize how you have been manipulated and scammed. Facebook and Twitter are destructive to your future. They are not useful social media, but rather the most sophisticated advertising and sales tools the world has ever known. And their goal is to keep you captive and engaged while they ultimately sell you something or advertise products to you for the sole benefit of the people you are “following”. No successful person ever said: When I started out, the first thing I did was sign up for Facebook and Twitter. Your world will not come to an end if you bail on Facebook and Twitter. Get yourself out of this nonsense, and begin living your own life, not wasting it watching someone else’s.
And about Facebook “profiles”…who needs them?? Why post a “profile” on Facebook and be there with all the other similar posters, when you can post your own profile for free on the internet at any blogging platform such as WordPress.com. At least for your own site, people don’t have to register or sign-up to view your profile, like they have to if your profile is buried in Facebook. I don’t want to “join” a worthless social network just to be able to view your profile.
At Blue Marble University, every student learns to create their own Online Digital Portfolio highlighting their accomplishments, education, interests and so forth. This is a far better tool for impressing employers or any other interested people. And when I search your name, Google will take me directly to your Online Portfolio without any detours through Facebook, which in order for me to view your profile, wants to know all about ME.
So when the talking heads or others say: “Follow me on twitter”, or “signup for my Facebook page”, run the other way. Because any talking head that tells you that is only hoping to suck you into what they are doing, and steal your life from you. Get out of there, live your life, build something, do something, find love, learn something new, but LIVE!!!
I guess I am not successful enough because I don’t have a Facebook or Twitter account you can “follow”. I don’t have anything to sell to “followers”, nor do I even want to have any followers. I want people I may have touched in some way to head off on their own course, make their own way in the world. And when or if you don’t have anything to do or can’t think of what to do, then DO SOMETHING–ANYTHING. Exciting doors will open but you have to be looking. It’s like a room full of ping pong balls banging around and occasionally colliding with one another. Collisions lead to new people, new friends, new business ideas, new explorations, new successes.
A recent successful business owner that started from nothing and became a successful cupcake baker gave this advice when asked how do you know what to pick when thinking about a new business. She said: “Do what you would do for free”. Meaning…do what you love. She wasn’t wasting time with “social networking”, she was Doing!! Most successful people are doing what they love, because that gives them the passion to keep going. I like to say: If you pick a path you like, keep going until you cannot go anymore. And you will find, you can in fact keep going to reach success in any endeavor.”
So, forget Facebook and Twitter. They are nothing more than “Heap big smoke but no fire”. You’re wasting your time….
Enjoy Arthur Godfrey’s song: Heap Big Smoke (But No Fire)
Blue Marble University 