i am on a bit of a social media cleanse. came to the (startling) realization that i am being exploited, mostly on facebook, by the virtual powers that be. i provide the content, mining my life's highs and lows while some fat cats in some eternally sunny utopia (ie, california) get richer.

my realization happened to coincide with the release of forbes' annual billionaires list, confirming that the rich in fact got richer in the midst of a global economic downturn. three of the top guns are from facebook, two from google, a handful from yahoo etc. then there's always good ole bill gates (a former boss of mine forbade us using microsoft word in the office; i thought him crazy at the time, but i now understand the wisdom in his position).

i didn't get much further down in the list because it became repugnant to entertain tales of these billionaires' many fortunes in the midst of universal economic misfortune. and it's unfortunate that the next twitter or facebook will only really help the one(s) who make(s) it, not the countless millions that will attach themselves to it like an IV drip. ugh. marx should come back from the grave and write an addendum to the communist manifesto about social media slavery. (this is what happens when i spend too much time in my own brain. please forgive.)

i was looking forward to the release of the facebook movie this wknd, but now i might boycott instead. --AL.