I haven't actually looked at it. I don't think I need a Facebook page to view someone else's Facebook page, do I? I don't think so. (My 20-year-old niece would be cringing right now.) I guess I should be embarrassed to admit that I don't know how social media works. I know what it is and what it is for, and I have made a personal vow to keep my distance, so I don't really know HOW it works. I just know I don't want to participate.
I used to teach marketing. That's what the school hired me for was to teach marketing. But the program lacked students at the location where I taught, so the administrators moved the program to the main campus, where I used to teach but don't anymore. I could if I wanted to drive 25 miles each way, twice a day (for morning and night classes). No thanks, not at $3.50 a gallon. So now I teach mostly computer applications, keyboarding, and a few introductory business classes. (Remind me again why I am getting this Ph.D.?)I bring up marketing because the social media marketing wave has long since crested and left me for dead on the sand. I could flog some interest in the topic, if I had to get a job. Or if I had to teach a class. But truly, I have no interest in learning about social media because I have no intention of connecting with anyone.
There, I said it. What do you expect? I'm a chronic malcontent. And a raging introvert. Maybe raging is not the right word. Tree falling in the forest and all that. More like, stoic introvert. Frigid introvert. Chilly, austere, lifeless introvert? No, that's not quite right. Well, I guess I'll write more about being an introvert on an Introvert Hell page, eh? In the meantime, what is up with all this social media crap?
I'll tell you what I really like. I like trying to understand why people do what they do and like what they like. That is what appeals to me about marketing. Not the slimy attempt to persuade people to buy more, bigger, better, but the humble pursuit of understanding buyer behavior. I don't want to be on Facebook, but I want to know why you are. How you use it, what you get out of it. I have no interest in Twitter, but why do you tweet? What do you tweet, how often do you tweet, and most importantly, how has it affected your life, your relationships, your feelings of self-worth?
See, I may be a chronic malcontent but that doesn't mean I don't care about others.
