Hi readers! My name is Lee, people also call me Liggy, people also call me 'The Angry Fijian' and people also call me the singer from Double Dragon. I have a website, called www.theangryfijian.com where I talk about metal, interview some bands, and also do some New Idea-style tabloid journalism. Anyway the team at Loud Mag have asked me to contribute with a guest blog of sorts, but really for the first post I'm going to rant about my new favourite thing to rant about... Facebook, and how I believe it's destroying local scenes. Enjoy - leave your thoughts and opinions in the comments and I'll be back soon with another groundbreaking piece of writing!
Ahh fuck Facebook. I fucking hate it and now I'm not a part of that bullshit anymore I'm going to rubbish the fuck out of it forever. In the old myspace days, I had this killer blog stating every single reason there was that it sucked fucking balls, but then somehow I folded. This time around there ain't no coming back. My Facebook persona is dead, never to come back again, a ghost of sorts that still haunts through feeds from the Double Dragon twitter but that's it. And boy how my life has improved.
First of all, I think I have actually spoken to my friends more than I have in about three years. Because I can't see what the fuck they are doing every five minutes, I actually have to pick up my phone and use the fucker if I want to have a chat or need something done. Thats pretty cool, cos chatting is cool. Remember that? Simple convos? I also am not aware of everybody's personal life and that is great. If I want to know I'll ask. I do not care if so and so is a cunt and this and that. Who cares? Are you looking for someone to agree with you or wanting to offend? I don't get that.
What else is better? I can't see all the little woe-is-me bullshit that is creeping into the statusphere more and more. Christ. Sometimes I would give them shit but always would feel like a cyberbully, so I stopped as it had no effect. The down sides? I can't think of any for the time being. If I was a pervey dude, I couldn't perve on Facefuck sluts, but let's get real... there is a whole Internet full of porn so maybe that's a dead argument. And most of the time girls have these wack as bathroom shots that don't show how fucking fugly they really are. I suppose I can't get spammed the fuck out of by everyone anymore, but that's also a great thing, because I would rather get my gig news from.. well... the fucking FEEJ because I will only ever plug the best shit eva! I suppose I can't catch up with people who I've met for five minutes, so that sucks, and I cant go "Chin Up Mate" whenever one of my mates is having a bad day, but they probably never take it in any way. So yeah, still no bad sides yet. I also don't have to read third rate hack bands refer to themselves as "Adelaide's leading metal band" when they clearly are not. Unless you're touring in Japan right fucking now, that is the dumbest statement I have ever seen, that band is clearly delusional, and think of themselves way too highly in comparison to the music they make.
I know I had it and used it all the time. I fucking suck for that. But, most of the time I was pushing my wares, so the joke's on you really. And that's what you people who can't walk away from that shit should do. Post the most obscene, offensive shit ever and troll the fuck out of the Facefuck community. It's heaps of fun, and its free. Nothing like good free fun.
Reality is, I don't need Facebook to promote my music or my site. I have my site for that, and a Twitter, and reverbnation.com has to be the fucking best thing I have ever used in terms of a 'social networking' music site. It's purely for bands and bands only and already I have discovered some bands close to home which I had never known previous. Many bands assume you require a Facefucking to promote your band, but I disagree. If you're a sceney death core band, then yes, because all dem fagg0tz are on there. But if you're a metal band, your fans probably equate to, what, 10% of your friends, and then you're just annoying all the dimwits you used to go to school with who could not give one flying fuck about the art you are making. Think outside the box. Think about it... your Facebook network is what... maybe up to 300 people if you're lucky. What about the rest of the world? What about the people who don't know you personally, who have never ever met you but might be keen on your band? In your efforts to promote your music on Facebook, you have marketed yourself to a small population of people WHO ALREADY KNOW YOU and forgot about all the new people. That's why the scenes are fading, because it's just the same fucking people over and over. What about the newbies hey? HEY!? ANYONE!??? Where are these people? YouTube, Reverbnation.com, Twitter. There are literally millions of people all over the place with different tastes. Someone out there will like your band if you have the determination and drive to let people know who you are.
One thing I do miss though is trolling Davin. Man, I had some good wins on his behalf, I will definitely miss doing that daily. But other than that it can get fucked, and anyone reading this, join the revolution and get the fuck off that bullshit site. The reality is Facebook is one big survey that everybody actively feeds bullshit into. There is nothing you can do on there that you cannot do in real life, folks. If you hear a song you like, just 'like' it. Or hate it. But you don't need to click a fucking like button to prove you like it. JUST FUCKING LIKE IT! I'll admit I will miss hearing Pete Dolving's views on the world, and man do I miss my good brother Jim Martin from Faith No More, but you know what kents, it's not the end of the world!
My self-imposed exile from Facefuck is awesome and I can't see myself ever joining that shit ever again. People of the world, take note and do yourself a favour and deactivate today! No more bullshit, no more Nosey Parker bullshit, and the best thing, no more zillions of invites to shit you would never go to.
Alas, my words will inevitably fall on deaf ears. People are nosey, selfish fucking pieces of crap, and if you're a piece of crap you belong in a toilet. And that toilet my friends, is Facebook.
1. Facebook doesn’t even know who the hell they are, yet people are willing to put their professional identity even partly in their hands. Guess what? Their first model sucked. They’re toying with something new. Do you really want to invest a lot of time and effort into networking through a company who couldn’t even remain faithful to their own market? I sure as hell don’t.
2. It’s incredibly juvenile compared to other networks, yet I constantly see people using it for business reasons. Use unprofessional services, and that’s exactly how it makes you look. If you think it’s professional to “poke” your colleagues online, maybe you still belong chasing 10 year old boys around the schoolyard.
3. Facebook is a fad. Yes, a FAD!!! You couldn’t give a single legitimate argument to prove otherwise (and don’t try to feed me that crap line about social networking being around long enough to no longer be a fad… Facebook, a single company, doesn’t equate to “social networking”). People who waste their time chasing fads (especially in marketing) always get burned, wasting more time than they can justify in the long run.
4. Frankly, there are better ways to reach your target audience (unless you’re primarily targeting students – despite their changes, that’s still the primary userbase. If you’re targeting them, Facebook may be an alright tool for you. If you’re not, forget it.). If you’re not putting in the effort to find the best ways to reach your target audience, you’re not doing your job. In most cases, Facebook won’t even come close.
5. PR professionals should know hype when they see it. Enough said on that front.
6. Most people I know who are on Facebook are on a variety of other social networks as well. Newsflash: most have no real added benefit. If you’re using Facebook as just one of several social networking sites, you have way too much time on your hands that would probably be better spent elsewhere.
7. The company has a history of not being terribly considerate of their users’ privacy. They may have privacy options available now, but do you really trust a company like that when it comes to your business? If you do, that’s great. Dense perhaps, but great.
8. The fact that they try to act like their own little virtual world is just annoying. Any site that forces you to register to really get a feel for it is just pathetic. It’s a simple marketing tactic on their end to rev up their member numbers (and supposed worth?) whether people actually use the site or not.
9. Speaking of their “value,” I’m sick of hearing about it. All the talk about whether or not they’d be sold and for how much is what started all of Facebook buzz in the first place (despite the fact that most of the newer die hard fans don’t even realize where the sudden mass interest came from).
10. Frankly, Facebook is so “been there done that.” They’re dated. They’re not “cool” anymore. The early adopters have come, gone, and moved onto better (and more useful) things, and what you have now is this overwhelming group of stale business-minded folks who still buy into the hype. Why? Because most people are too lazy to actually research a marketing / PR tactic before jumping on the bandwagon when it’s all everyone’s talking about. That’s the nature of being a fad. The only good thing about Facebook is the fact that fads die.
Double Dragon have a new album called "Sons Of Asena" Due later this year. For more information please visit: www.reverbnation.com/doubledragonau
Comment