A very long time ago I was going out with a girl at college and she always used to say to me about her best friend "Do you like K? Would you like to go out with her? She's very attractive - lovely figure" etc. Of course, I replied, "No, no! She isn't my type. I'd never have anything to do with her! She is really annoying!" etc. Of course a couple of months later I went out to dinner with K (and possibly a bit more) much to original girl's fury.
Anyway, I felt like that today because (and I can blame my daughter) I now have a Facebook page. Oh, the shame! Actually, I didn't feel shame about the girls; not for very long anyway, but I do about Facebook.
Regular readers know my issues with technology and my hatred for social media of any type (other than blogs, naturally). Just this weekend I was struggling to set up my new Windows 8 laptop. Argh! It is as horrible as I suspected it would be, as the system completely lacks any logic whatsoever. I nearly gave up on it and put it back in its box but fortunately my friend Bill came around and sorted it for me so it all works, it's just I can't work it.
These two things are linked. I need the new laptop to have stuff installed on it by a firm I am working for at present. They also use Facebook and Twitter and expect their staff to be on both. So, having no idea about either, I was talking to Charlotte in Edinburgh today and she took me through setting it up, which was immensely useful. Now I have to set up a work one. I'm still not quite sure what Facebook is for or whether I will use mine but I may play with it for a few weeks so that I can set up the work one properly. I absolutely will not be getting Twitter, however! So if you receive a friend request from me (I am cringing as I type this) feel free to ignore it as I am not aware of Facebook etiquette but am just practising!
Stop Press: Just back from having some Spaghetti Puttanesca and watching Eggheads having sent a few experimental friend requests and I have been bombarded with friend requests back! "You'll only have me as a friend," said my daughter. Anyway, thanks to Big Red Bat my first friend other than Charlotte and Craig Cartmell of IHMN fame for calming words and advice!
One discovery through all this is that I have found all the fascinating news and updates from various figure manufacturers which I didn't know existed. This is probably not a good thing! I suppose it is easier to post stuff on Facebook than update your website. This news aspect is something I had not thought of!
I can now see, however, why my daughter never gets anything done and why my son stops his A level revision because of his iPad pinging constantly!
On the wargaming front I had another visit to the Shed last night but forgot my camera so I will have to wait until Eric's account, if he does one. Like me he is very busy at work at present. My search for the Crooked Dice Seventh Voyage rules has so far been futile but there are a couple of places I can still search. I did dig out my Golden Fleece, tree and Hydra, though, so need to do some work on them soon.
I felt/feel the same about FB. In fact, I only opened (is that the term?) an account because one of the local gamers (an amateur techie) put a bunch of gaming photos on his FB page (actually now the local gaming community's FB - Northwest Historical Gaming Society) and that was where he said to get the pictures of our game. Here it is about 5 years later and I still have less "friends" than people's pets :) I actually "unfriended" some folks because I got tired of looking at their icon pictures :)! Lol!
ReplyDeleteIt may well all be a five day wonder!
DeleteI too resisted FB... But it's had its uses connecting with various bloggers and the like.. Overall a positive experience
ReplyDeleteWe shall see. I need to try to keep up with the technology as it's slipping away from me and I don't want to end up like the Old Bat who can't even operate the TV!
DeleteIt took a coma and my family complaining I was hard to get in touch with to get me on...
ReplyDeleteFunny! I do not intend to communicate with any family. Most of them are dead, anyway.
DeleteFacebook is great for stalking....! And that looks worse in writing than it was in my head. It is useful for finding old friends but the downside is that they can find you also.
ReplyDeleteIt's certainly handy gaming-wise for news and seeing what your 'gaming friends' are up to....just beware the cats!
ReplyDeletePlease don't ask me to join as I would like to keep some of my world personal...blogging Is goos as we are in control...the others are far more danfergous
ReplyDeleteI'm only asking people to join who have significant wargaming elements on their page. Private lives should be kept private.
DeleteIt's all a training exercise. I am just finding my way around it and may pull the plug on it in due course anyway. As some of you intimate, far too much information available.
ReplyDeleteFB is one move to far for me...why advertise my presence to people I have spent most of my life avoiding!?! I can see the hobby based aspects but little else! Good luck though, perhaps you can report back on the important bits?
ReplyDeleteYes. Still not sure!
DeleteStrangely enough, I was my daughter who 'encouraged' me to use FB because I continually misplace my phone and she could never get hold of me (not that FB has improved things there). I use it mostly to keep in touch with mates from the RN, but many people seem to live their lives through it.
ReplyDeleteIt's OK wjem yopu get used to it as long as you remember it's akin to standing in the middle of Trafalgar Square and shouting something. Someone, somewhere will take an interest. Just make sure you've got the chain on the door . . . ;O)
A very good description!
DeleteWelcome to the FB world... I must admit I was hesitant to start it initially but have found it a useful adjunct for blogging, and there are lots of hobby groups to explore. Just be careful perhaps whet you put out there and who you share with... Also be warned Facebook has a habit of locking accounts that dont use a real name, they dont like pseudonyms...
ReplyDeleteWindows 8 !? Yes a complete 'mare...dont touch it with a bargepole if you can avoid it... I turned our sons new notepad into a 'frisbee' because of it...
Well, if they don't like my pseudonym I'll stop using it!
DeleteOh it is a sad day in Luddite-Land, you've scumbed to the wiley charms of face book. Soon you'll be bragging about the number of likes you have and re-posting fringe political messages - you've been assimulated!
ReplyDeleteFB is a good info distribution platform. I rarely post but do check it once or twice a wekk
Yes I think that is the key - don't post just watch!
DeleteFB is a strange thing which could be addictive ! sometimes, not always (!); I try to be not connected but it's difficult !
ReplyDeleteEdwing King suggested to add me as a friend, I've accepted the request .. I hope that my page is not too boring for you!
In fact, my "special Hobby Page" is more attractive ... maybe !
(my real name : Pascal Decourt .. )
Thanks. I already follow your excellent blog!
DeleteThanks too ! you're following a sleeping blog ! ;)
DeleteFor Windows 8 : a friend of mine has done a little manipulation on my daughter's tabletop to be able to use it with a Windows 7 configuration : excellent !
and I don't know if you have this problem but it seems that the antiviral software (Norton?) which is "given" with W8 is a b*****y s**t ! You can throw it in the trash ! and clean the computer with the free CCleaner software (I think that it's possible to find a good tutorial on the net to use it .... if you need help .... ;)
another good software: adwcleaner ... easy to use and very very efficient for cleaning the machine !
Thanks. I have found some tutorials on how to alter some aspects of it. I will just have to try. I suspect it just means that I won't use the laptop unless I absolutely have to, like when I am abroad.
DeleteOfficially your first friend! I am honoured, even if only in a chronological sense.
ReplyDeleteWindows 8 is the Devil's own operating system I've had it for 18 months and I'm still struggling.
How encouraging!
DeleteFacebook has some uses but for me its primarily a platform for distributing my Blog Feed to a wider audience. In fact all the social media I use are linked to my Blog in one way or another. I find FB a useful but often frustrating platform and I far prefer G+ as a way of keeping in touch with fellow gamers. And as for Twitter....I've had an account for years and I still can't see the point of it!
ReplyDeleteI suppose Twitter is useful if you are very famous and need to keep your profile high for financial reasons but for normal people...?
DeleteTwentyeight comments, it seems as Facebook is a hot topic.
ReplyDeleteAs a man with a somewhat intact integrity and an iron will to save the last of it (well... ), I stay clear from not only open the door for Big Brother, but also not inviting him in for coffee and let him stay over the night. Some of my old workmates bought huge TV:s with cameras in them - for unknown reasons. When will these Wannabee Wilsons start hiding in a dark corner of their banlieue-flats, terrified of the ever-watching eye that they willingly bought themselves!?
A bit dramatic there but some truth I think there is to it ;)
As always I typed up a short story here, but I deleted it - I just make a post of it at a later date.
Anyway, I appreciate your stories here on the blog, a blog is just that: A bit about the hobby and then something else. As Jeff "Podhammer" Carroll once said: "To make a good podcast about Warhammer, you need to have a bit not about Warhammer". That is a good view to have on blogs as well: The best ones have a bit about the author as well - whether he be anonymous, semi-anon. or out of the hobby closet. Facebook is just too open.