InacTVity

I've noticed something in the recommended pages section of facebook when I'm on it. It shows two pages [like the one for this that no one interacts with] on whatever topic it thinks you might like. Some of these show a line like "Many who liked X also like this" [if you're already a fan of X] or "Some number of your friends like this"; both of which are reasonable cause to suspect that I might like this thing too.

Other times however, the only justification for recommending it that facebook can find is how many fans it already has, irregardless of any of them being your friends [or mortal enemies] or not. I assume you all use facebook [if you don't, what the fuck's wrong with you?? Are you 74 or something??] so next time you're on it and from now to infinity, pay attention to the levels of fans for the things it recommends. Maybe you've already noticed it.

Here's what I'm getting at: Some sort, any sort, of activity or thing you'd do will absolutely have a fuckload less fans than a TV show or "public figure". For instance, "Sitting on the beach at night" right now has 517,000[ish] fans, whereas "The Office" [the good one with Steve Carrell] has fucking 4,841,000[and change] fans. This is not a one-off thing.

Pick virtually any TV show made after 2001 and any basic human activity, and odds are that the show is a fuckload more famous than the activity. And in the cases where the difference it isn't multiplying the fanbase of the activity to get the fans of the show, then it'll still be about five times.

All those people who spout on about how people today don't have enough interaction with people and blame TV and all that shit?? Well, when you notice something like this, you can't really argue with them. I mean, I have hung around a beach at night on several occasions, and they were all pretty awesome. Night-time sea [barring monsters and serial killers] is a really beautiful thing, but I'm still way more stoked to new episodes of Lie To Me.