Fun fact: you can still get dial-up with NetZero. But you can only get 10 hours of free service per month. And at those speeds, you might be able to pull up Facebook. That assessment is probably not too far off: I used to queue up four MP3's to download overnight.

For all of the lambasting I do of Facebook, I've failed to categorize it correctly. Quite honestly, I should view it through the lens of a NetZero. You'll recall that NetZero was a free ISP in the 90s which served up targeting ads for its revenue stream. And thus, in the dark age before the ad blocker, NetZero users would have advertisements dished up along with the flashing ad banners original to the sites they'd visit. I suspect an apt analogy to the whole show is a three-ring circus. And think, today they warn people of just flashing lights!

What do I mean that Facebook is like NetZero? Clearly, the ads, though they have evolved beyond their static nature, abound. They even have the sheep's clothing custom-tailored. While Facebook mimics a social centralization, a virtual coffeehouse, "they are who we thought they were." They are a 90s web-based email client—think Yahoo before the entrance of Google and its clean interface. Now Facebook is a very bizarre email client with friends and strangers reading your mail—half the time you don't know WHO you're talking to! In my reemergence onto the platform, I get the real sense people have taken a back seat to the ads. There's not the same chatter, the same voice I hear from folks that are uniquely their own.

Maybe I'm wrong; maybe people have changed. Perhaps the 2020 government's land grab for control of lives has squelched their individuality. Sadly, masking and boosters ad infinitum serve up virtue signaling and is a shibboleth. That alone divides and silences restrained voices. We are not lone wolves but are stained by a herd mentality; we want the cool kids' table.

Facebook leadership feeds into this tension. Positive or negative, it is all email engagement to serve up ads. Instead of passively opening up your mouth and having that slop shoved down your gullet, take action. Connect with people. Love them. It's easy to start viewing people as their two-dimensional avatars. But, there is a person there with all the wins and losses you've earned; all of the confidences and insecurities you possess. They hide behind a mask that you wear also.

And try to ignore their mindless chatter as they parrot the shibboleths. That is not who they are. They just want to be cool like everybody else—maybe no one will know that they fall short.

It's OK.

Being attractive is the most important thing there is
If you want to catch the biggest fish in your pond
You have to be as attractive as possible
Make sure to keep your hair spotless and clean

-Nada Surf, Popular