Random Rants About Social Networking

Should Have Stayed With Myspace With Their Embedded Music Players:
Self portrait pictures taken in front of the mirror
Self portrait pictures where your arm is stickin out the frame
Andy Warhol-esque photoshop newbie profile pictures (You're not a photoshop expert, and coloring your portrait with pastels make you look like my nephew's finger painting mess)
Whole folders of the same profile pic taken with a different smile (Bitch you're not a model, and don't think those 100 pushups you did last night made a difference)

Why Did Facebook Have 2 Go There?:
Parents doing the things in the above lists
Parents and Kids putting each other on blast in front of 200 of their mutual friends
Changing around the privacy functions every couple of months
Tracking our internet activity and placing ads on our profile page reflecting that activity (Facebook = Big Brother?!)

Because of Social Networking Sites...
My boring life has something to look forward to in front of a monitor
I can be a semi celebrity
I can keep in touch with people I haven't seen in decades, whether I want to see them or not
I can put myself in a precarious position with present and future job references
I officially have a second identity, maybe a third or a fourth if my self esteem is that bad
I get a free play by play on sports, concerts, and drama with couples
I'm up to date with what's hot and what's not
I'm always in touch with my acquaintances, since social networking is like my elementary, junior high, high school, college, and workplaces, all in one recess session. :-)

The Folly of Yelp

A frat bro of mine recently tweeted:

"I hate yelp...fuck I hate yelp...I hate the people on yelp...bunch of hipster youngins who don't kno much about nething but have an opinion"

Of course just like the vast majority of published opinions online it is only a rant, and really a rant should not be taken literally. Rants usually come out of frustration at the spur of the moment. Initially Yelp started out as a restaurant/business guide where everyday people critique the establishment. Its appeal was a response to stuffy know-it-all journalists who appear not to know what they are talking about. After all this is your neighbor, your trusted friend who told you about your favorite restaurant, who convinced you to give this breakfast diner a chance, and you thanked them for it. It had something going in its inception but all of a sudden it blew up. Everybody started signing up for it. The designer added social networking capabilities to the site. The smartphone Yelp app surfaced enabling you to check in to the spot. Yelp became mainstream, and with the bandwagon getting built, the reviews from your close trusted friend became a rant from a 15 year old grade school flunkie.

This is why I can't really trust Yelp anymore. There will be a couple legit reviews, and then there will be one reviewer that had a bad experience with the waitress and decides to base their review on that, and then there will be the other reviewer who will give the 1 star crucifixion off the one dish that is overly repulsive than it actually is. At least journalists are conscious of their bias. There was one yelp review that focussed more on her relationship with someone else rather than the restaurant itself. Finally there are those yelpers that may be hired by the said establishment who give 1 star to the rival restaurant while giving 5 to another. By this time, it just appears that yelp is a better directory for establishments than a reputed guide for restaurants. At this point, the appeal of reviews from everyday people gets worn leaving people like me to rely on friends on what is the spot.