And another thing....

I keep tripping over contests or donation schemes this week that require you to comment or follow or friend people.  It's really bugging me.  "If 500 people comment on my blog, I'll donate $500 to XYZ charity!"  And then everyone in the world puts in on Twitter, and it ends up all over my Twitter stream.  The blogger ends up looking like a good person, when all they're really doing is paying $500 for a huge number of comments and publicity.  If you want to donate $500 to charity so bad, go do it privately.  I don't need to hear about it.

Cynical.  It goes with the cranky.

Last night a blogger announced that a book give away was just about to close.  It was for a book I've been wanting, so I popped on over.  All you had to do was comment, and you're entered in the drawing.  Cool.  But follow the blogger on Twitter you get x number of extra entries.  And if you follow the author, too, you get x more entries.  And if you friend them on Facebook you get this, and if you add them as a friend on Goodreads you get that, and by the time you're done, everyone who entered the contest had about 20 or 30 entries, and the blogger and the author's stats are through the roof.  Annoying.  This morning I checked my Twitter stream, and it's been totally overwhelmed by youtube videos and other worthless crap from the blogger and author.  Super annoying.

And there are a couple people in my Twitter stream who I otherwise like and respect.  They have interesting things to say, and I want to read them.  But they keep sending out the same tweets over and over, flogging their blogs.  Not, "I have a new post, come read it!"  But identical tweets, about the same post or contest, over and over and OVER again.

I realize I am one hand, clapping in the darkness.  I'm not an expert or anyone of any great importance.  But really, people.  Social networking-- ur doin it rong.