THE DANGER WITHiN FACEBOOK

Next, to the telephone, Facebook is possibly the most popular communication tool invented to date. It allows us to connect with friends and family around the world. To see and interact in their lives. So how can something this incredibly inventive be dangerous to you personally?

Let's begin with some digits for you financial folk...
At the time of writing,  Facebook's commercial value is bigger than Amazon (£62billion) and Cisco (£57billion) but behind Google (£129billion) and Apple (£315billion). It has over 900 million active users, if Facebook were a country, it would be the third largest country on earth, behind China and India

Some people refuse to use Facebook, claiming a higher status on the basis, they don't need it in their lives.
Then there are those who continuously warn us its controlled by agencies such as the NSA and FBI who "monitor everything you do."

It is true when agreeing to Facebook's terms, we open the entire contents of our devices to them, giving access to our emails, photo's plus allowing them to monitor and collect data from every single document, program, and application you use

Yes, that's outrageously intrusive! However, unless you are under 10 years old, you must know nothing commercial is free. There's going to be a price to use the worlds most popular online communication tool. So who exactly is facebook and who's mining all our private information?

Here are some facts for you knowledgeable folks...f
facebook stock is officially owned by:
15 employees / former employees - including Mark Zuckerberg, Sean Parker, and Jeff Rothschild
9 corporate investors - including Microsoft and Digital Sky Technologies
6 venture capital companies - including Goldman Sachs and Accel Partners
5 angel investors - including Peter Thiel and Jim Breyer
3 enemies (via court cases) - the Winklevoss brothers and Divya Narendre

Monsanto stockholders hold stock in Facebook - actually of the top five stockholders, three are the same.
A more interesting fact, with the exception of the last three names on the list, most Facebook stockholders, in one form or another also have a stake in the other big online names we use - Google, YouTube, Paypal, eBay, Twitter, Amazon, LinkedIn, MySpace, Zynga, HomeAway, News Corp, Forbes, the Wall St Journal plus many lesser-known names

The point is, if you are paranoid about being monitored or don't want your data mined, you should probably stop using the internet!

Its pretty visible American intelligent agencies have significant connections with Facebook, however, that's nothing new and certainly not exclusive to those lovely paranoid people in the USA. Throughout history, business and government have shared information and stroked each-others naughty parts. The fact it's happening with facebook should come as no surprise to anyone.

The real danger within Facebook is coming from a far less obvious place (big drumroll) Its...Us!
Yes, we are the most dangerous thing about facebook!

Sure we're happy to be your friend, but do we need to know you're "home on the sofa" or "you ran for 53 minutes 43 seconds" Maybe a handful of people are interested in some of your minor doings, but why must the rest of us be presented with the tedious and mundane aspects of your life? Additionally, there are lots of pretty sexist posts, rants, racism and plenty of hypocrisy taking place.
 
Imagine for a moment....you and all your friends meet in person daily to say or show one thing

Would you present a picture of your lunch or cat?
Would you complain about the government, offer conspiracy theories or advice to everyone about what to eat?
Would you spout off quotes from famous people like some uber intellectual twat? Or show yourself posing Zoolander stylee?

Imagine sitting through each of your friends doing that daily - you can bet your bottom rupee, people would stop coming to that meeting. We seem to be dumbing each other down, under the egotistical illusion we are making a difference to humanity!
 
Facebook does one thing correctly, it strokes your ego; however it's not a kind, gentle stroke - more a love-struck groupie who wants to grab any part of you. It lingers on your every word and picture. Not caring how low-level your content is, in fact, it encourages your  narcissistic behaviour

Facebook also provides the ideal platform for fakery. Its okay to make people think you are well informed, funny, cool, sexy or living the most perfect life. Do go ahead and pretend you are a brave freedom fighter informing the world about dangers and conspiracies ....the reality is, you are just posting on a website!!

Creating false ideas about who we are, can be harmful socially, for a start it could prove extremely difficult to live up to your online personality in real life. While the friends who actually know you could realise you are an idiot!

There's a colossal amount comment-harvesting, with almost every selfie met with the obligatory "beautiful" "gorgeous" or "looking good." It's beautiful that you're posting yet another selfie, although you are probably fishing for compliments to feed your ego

We seem to be stereotyping ourselves. Girls post pictures with cleavage and the pouting fish mouth - then complain that society treats women as objects and question why most men cannot connect to them emotionally

By far the most disturbing thing is the amount of hateful and negative posts. There's a massive amount of nastiness and complaining. Mainly against governments, business or the state of the world. For sure many terrible things are happening around the world. Sure you may be upset, and your opinion may be valid. When it's hateful, it just induces a horrible lynch-mob mentality of comments

If you genuinely want to change the world, go do something about it...sitting on your bum bum spouting off on Facebook is just masturbating your ego

Modern science and new physics are proving you and your consciousness, shape the world around you. We have begun understanding how our thoughts, attitudes, and feelings become a reality. If you are continually massaging your ego or interacting negatively, you will undoubtedly become more self-absorbed and attract more negative things into your life
 
The world is not perfect, although it can be a place of wonders, once we focus our minds with the right intentions
 
People in countries with far less infrastructure, don't enjoy as much access to the internet as those in the west. However, they seem more positive about life. Perhaps not spending as much time online, allows them time to actively improve their own experience.  Its no surprise places like India and China are moving forward, while the west is in emotional free-fall

Facebook itself is no more dangerous than any other online giant, it's our naughty ego, which is causing the worlds most amazing social communication tool, to feel like a wonky prospect

Your posts are a mirror of your feelings. The things you process through your mind and where you guide your energy shapes your personal experience. We, humans, are lucky enough to be able to generate and produce our own reality
Why not try and use that to your advantage?

Facebook is a place where you show yourself and interact with others around the world...
So consider posting and commenting with good intention. Most of all be caring.
It will undoubtedly make help Facebook be a less dangerous place!

3000monks...are social butterfly's


spring 2015
image: 3000monks
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