Social Media is so 2022! Has the greed of Twitter/Facebook/youtube/etc destroyed their business

 Lets start by saying, I enjoy writing a blog. I've been doing it for over 15 years now, and 99% of the time it is something I enjoy. When I started it, I didn't have a Twitter account or Facebook account. I didn't use Facebook to promote my Facebook account and only opened a Twitter account as people kept nagging me, saying that it would make it easier to know when I posted a new blog. At first you could only post short messages on Twitter, which was wonderful. We didn't have to put up with lengthy posts, by people who really didn't have much to say. You'd see the tweets of people you followed and they'd appear in Time order. Facebook was pretty much the same. I found Facebook to be good for catching up with friends and getting back in touch with ones who I'd lost contact with. At some point, and I cant be bothered to check when, Facebook decided that they knew better than me what I wanted to look at. At first, this was just ordering posts so I saw certain freinds posts and others I had to look for. Then I started getting adverts and 'sponsored posts', now all I seem to see is sponsored posts and old posts from friends, most of which I've seen already. If I look through my friends list and randomly click on someone, I find all manner of posts that I've not seen. It seems beyond the wit of Facebook to understand that I want to see posts from all my friends and I don't want to see a load of spam. It is interesting that you can report spam, but Facebook are the biggest spammers of the lot. 

Then there is Twitter. It has gone completely bonkers since Elon Musk took over. It defaults to "For you", which is what Mr Musk thinks you want to see. I was confused initially when Nigel Farage and Jacob Rees-Mogg posts started appearing. If I wanted to see their bilge, I'd follow them. I am sure some people feel the same about my tweets showing up on their timeline. It is also starting to clog up with ads. Mr Musk claims that he needed to do all of this to stop it losing money. Given that he staged a hostile takeover, I rather resent the fact that he is whinging about the state of the company. If he didn't do his due diligence, is it really fair to inflict this on us? It used to be that sometimes I'd get cross with people on Twitter, now it's Twitter itself that is the problem. 

The bottom line with this is that I am absolutely fed up to the teeth with Social Media. There is little of interest. Most of the people I want to interact with have almost given up posting. For almost a decade, I've done a feature called "The Tweets of the Week in the London Borough of Barnet". I used to enjoy putting a collection of great tweets together and sharing them. The feature works best when those who's tweets are selected retweet the feature. That way, their followers get to see a selection of other interesting tweets, and hopefully all will grow their real follower base. Over recent weeks, there has been a noticeable decline in Tweeters bothering. Sometimes, they will retweet days or even weeks later. This tells me that there is a growing disconnect with Twitter. There seems to be a marked decline in views and engagements. It is a bit hard to tell as the analytics only go back a year for views. I know that far, far less people are clicking throuygh from Twitter these days. Probably 75% less than a decade ago. Now this may be because my blogs are boring, but the direct hits are pretty constant. 

Even more irritating is the barrage of notifications for Tweets that are of no interest. I only want notifications if I am tagged, retweeted or liked. Twitters algorythms are absolutely useless at predicting what tweets I want to see.

Oh and finally a word about Youtube. They've put a feature on where you can't see videos if you have an ad blocker. I think Youtube are massive piss takers as they put ads on my videos, but don't pay me anything from the ads. That was why I put the ad blocker on. I also get ridiculous notifications. I know these companies need to earn money, but they don't seem to have any understanding of the fact that they if they make their platforms too money orientated at the expense of user experience, users will use the platforms less. 

All in all, it seems to me that in the dash to wring every last bit of advertising cash out of mugs who pay to advertise on these platforms, they have totally alienated their customer base. I am not saying there isn't good stuff out there, as there is, but I rarely look at either platform now, unless I am completely bored or have just posted a blog. 

Social media is dead!

#CameronMustGo - A hashtag that has been trending on twitter for ages, as part of an imaginative social media campaign co-ordinated by the Labour Party? Actually no, I believe it is the obituary of Twitter as a platform for social change. Whilst it may be fun for political anoraks and obsessives, what normal sane person would be influenced in any way, shape or form by a 140 character message of which 14 are a slogan, presumably thought up by a "media consultant" trying to help the Labour Party get with it. I've never been overly convinced of the power and influence of Twitter in the UK. Initially I couldn't be bothered with it at all. It was suggested to me that maybe it would help me let readers of this blog know that a new blog had been posted, so I succumbed. It didn't take too long to realise what a horrible place the TwitSphere was. A zone where cowardly Trolls roam, looking for ways to anonymously put the boot in to people they'd run a mile from in real life. As to the quality of political debate, it is dire. What tends to happen is you get a right wing nutcase and a left wing nutcase shouting at each other, not listening, until the less robust party triumphantly announces "I've blocked so and so and life is much better now!"

These Trolls sit there waiting for some poor unsuspecting mug to post something, usually about an issue they feel passionately about, and then leap. They use all manner of hectoring, fatuous arguments to support the unsupportable. When a perfectly reasonable retort is posted, it is simply ignored or the subject changed. Engageing with a Troll is time consuming and ultimately a complete waste of time. However annoying they may be, however tempting it may appear to try and reason with them, ultimately you'll never get those minutes of your life back. I doubt there will be anyone who says on their deathbed "I wish I'd spent more time arguing with Trolls on Twitter".

The net effect of the Trolls and their activities has been to transform Twitter into a forum where all we do is preach to converted. What twitter does well is to keep us informed when there is a disaster or a crisis. The 140 character format and the ability to post photo's is ideal for us to instantly know what has occurred. These days you tend to find out breaking news first from Twitter because a subject starts trending. Sadly even here the Trolls roam, often posting messages stating some minor celeb has died. This is met with swift denials.

As I look at Twitter, I ask "what is trending in London" right now. Here's the answer

• Foggy
• #Homeland
• #XFactorSemiFinal
• #UKChampionship
• Judd Trump
• #RememberMe
• #bbcsnooker
• Ronnie O'Sullivan
• Christmas

If this really is a summary of the most exciting things to discuss in London right now, then Lord help us all. In short, Twitter has simply degenerated into a noticeboard to discuss last nights telly and for Trolls to kick lumps out of each other. Is that really worth the trouble.

Then we have Facebook. It is nice to keep up with friends on Facebook, but whilst the instant messaging feature is useful, it has got more and more irritating, clogged up with adverts, sponsored posts, stupid games and reposts of jokes billed as "hilarious" which are mindnumbingly dull and amazing which are banal. In truth, just about the only videos I've looked at recently are ones of dogs doing stupid things, which mostly do what they say on the tin. If all Facebook is really about is recirculating funny dog videos, I'd suggest that it's days are numbered.

What about Youtube? As part of the Barnet Eye Advent calendar, I've spent the week trawling for interesting videos about our neighbourhood. Whilst there are some gems there, the amount of totally Banal crap you have to search through to find anything is truly depressing. As a little test, I searched for the most viewed video with the words "Mill Hill" in.



It is a video of how to drive around Apex Corner roundabout. Now clearly many people will want to know how to learn to drive, but is this really the most exciting thing to ever come out of Mill Hill? I think of all the forms of social Media, YouTube will be the most enduring, but it does seem to me that it's lost its glitter. I suspect that as it fills up with Birthdays and Bahmitzvah's itw ill be ever less seen as a serious place for social interaction and more simply viewed as a useful resource.

In some ways it is inevitable that internet fads come and go. Whatever happened to "friends reunited" and Myspace? Both were leading edge and both are now viewed rather like we view the dinosaurs.

I suppose in many ways Social media platforms are like religious cults. Initially they have explosive growth as the zealots who start them get the message out with zeal and fervour. People get swept up and congregations grow. Then all of a sudden, they find they are just part of the establishment and part of the furniture and the next generation of zealots find it all rather old hat and the cycle starts again.

I do wonder when people will realise that the best way to keep in touch is to actually go and see your friends and family. As to the discussions we have with people we don't like, haven't we had enough of them already at School, work and with the pub bore?

The only question I really have is to ask what will replace the current rash of social illness we call social media companies.

YouTube - High handed and not customer focused and discriminating against small artists

I'm not at all impressed with YouTube. My band made this video of a track written and performed by the Band


We own the copyright to the song and the video. We recently took advantage of the ability to monetize the video, by adding Google Adwords to it. Whilst this is unlikely to bring in more than a bit of pocket money at the moment, in these hard times, every little helps.

Today I got this email :-
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Help Centre | email options | report spam

Dear RogTex, Thanks for submitting your video Put me in the Spotlight - Koni with The False Dots Official Video for revenue sharing. We have disabled revenue sharing on this video for one of the following reasons: You have not provided adequate documentation that you have the necessary rights to use all the video material and music commercially or We have determined that the content is not advertiser-friendly. Note that YouTube might disable revenue sharing for accounts that have repeatedly not been able to prove commercial usage rights for videos submitted for revenue sharing. If you would like to disable revenue sharing on your videos you may opt them out by logging in to your YouTube account and visiting http://www.youtube.com/my_videos. If you have additional questions, please visit our Help Centre at http://www.google.com/support/youtube/. Thanks for your understanding, The YouTube Team

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Now this is clearly a device to stop Youtube being prosecuted for copyright violation. The stuff about the video not being advertiser friendly is purely a smokescreen. What annoys me is that I own the copyright and there is no mechanism for appealing this decision.  This policy clearly is high prejudicial against independent and unsigned artists. I can understand that YouTube doesn't make a fortune from such things generally, but just suppose the clip goes viral and starts attracting masses of hits? Us as the artist will lose out big time.

I have no objection to a suspension, or a request for further information, but I have a big objection to an arbitary decision to prevent me from earning money from a piece of artwork of which I am the copyright holder.  As to the "Thank You for Your Understanding" - as far as I'm concerned, I have no understanding at all for how such a rich corporation can be so high handed and treat it's customers so shioddily. You Tube are a bunch of pisstakers.

Saturday night music - Electro music -SOFT CELL

It's Saturday Night, here's a couple of songs to put you in the Party mood from Soft Cell. These are both great songs. Everyone knows Tainted Love, I think Torch is an often overlooked masterpiece. These songs both remind me of a totally bonkers period of my life, that I greatly miss. They are dedicated to all the members of my band, the False Dots over the years, without whom, life would be so dull.

Sweet Gene Vincent

It's Saturday Night and on a Saturday Night, you just can't have too much Gene Vincent.

The original clip of Gene Vincent on 1st appearance at the Town Hall Party 1958

Be Bop A Lula



Rip it up



Over the Rainbow



I'm of the opinion that if you don't like Gene Vincent's music you either :-

a) Don't have a pulse

or

b) Don't deserve one !

Thank you lord for YouTube. Clips like these make me glad to be alive.

Chickens come home to roost in a Youtube world

Back in 1981, I visited a friend at one of the rather better Universities. It was a good excuse for a cheap weekend away. As ever, such evenings ended in the Student Union subsidised bar. This was a good place to get blind drunk on the cheap and there were always plenty of young and pretty undergraduates to be chased.

There was one group of students who rather stuck out in the bar. My friend stated that they were the Young Conservatives on a night out. Whilst they seemed just as keen on getting pissed and meeting members of the opposite sex as the rest of us, there was definately an aura of oddness about this group. At about 10pm, one of them leapt up on a table and started shouting, in a manner that today would probably have him classified as having touret's syndrome. I can't honestly remember exactly what he said but phrases such as "Harpoon the disabled" "Euthenasia for the elderly" were bellowing forth. His friends found this hilarious. I was less than impressed, but as I was a guest I felt I had to restrain myself from thumping him, which was my first instinct. I comment to my friend "what a complete knob". He responded "Oh, he's actually alright. He's taking the mickey out of ***** ******* who's the leader of the young Tories.

I was a bit surprised, but it transpired that there was an election coming up for the post and the drunk on the table was trying to usurp the incumbent. It seemed as if a major part of his strategy was to get roaring drunk and mercilessly lampoon the incumbent. His entourage at least thought it was hilarious. I asked if the incumbent had actually said "Harpoon the disabled", to which my friend replied "probably not".

I'd completely forgotten the event until recently, when I bumped into my friend. He said "Do you remember that bloke you wanted to thump at my college bar?" I replied "Oh, Mr Harpoon the disabled". He said "er yes, thats the one". He added "Did you know he's in the Shadow Cabinet?". I replied that I wouldn't recognise him if I saw him, having only seen him once, in a drunken haze, 28 years ago.

My friend replied "I bet you wish you'd had a mobile phone with a camera then, that would look good on your blog". I suppose if you wanted to be really unfair and make mischief, it would. I'm not really into trawling up high jinx from ancient history. I assume that, like me, he's a rather different character now and cringes at some of the things he did at college (assuming he could remember). I'm glad that we didn't have youtube, cameras on mobile phones and skype when I was a teenager, god knows what my kids would think if they saw some of my shenanigans.

During David Cameron's leadership campaign, reference was made to his past drug use. There was the inference that he'd been a naughty boy at college. A nice little youtube clip of him snorting or puffing would probably have finished him (assuming he did, which he may not have for all I know). Would this have been a good thing? Well not from my perspective. I'd hate him to get elected, but this is because he's a Conservative. If he's a Conservative who had a good time at college and has since grown up, I'd say that is actually a plus. He has shown that he has the self restraint to try something & then say "Ok, been there done that, moved on".

Unless we as a society grow up and realise that we do stupid things when we are 18 that we wouldn't do when we are 46, then Youtube clips will ensure that we never get anyone in politics apart from the most boring, useless, characterless figures, who are so risk dull that nothing will ever get done.

Councillor Andrew Harper makes my day

I know I've criticised Barnet Council's Youtube initiative as a waste of money and I know I've recently criticised political bloggers who say things are hilarious when they aren't. All I can say is that this clip from Barnets youtube collection made me snigger. I quite like Councillor Andrew Harper, but the clip of him on the walking machine 40 seconds in is quite pythonesque.



The devices look like fun and I'm sure will be popular. Well done to Councillor Harper for the innovative idea. I just hope we get some in Mill Hill Park.

Barnet Council's Nazi YouTube broadcast. Who is responsible?

Those of you who have followed my blog, both here and on the Times will be aware of the circumstances of my blog ceasing on the Edgware Times and starting here. For those who are new, let me just recap. Barnet Council started posting clips of the views of local residents on YouTube. One of these clips featured a blatantly Anti Semitic comment. A local resident complained, but Barnet Council refused to remove it. I then posted a blog on the Edgware Times entitled "Barnet Council using your taxes to promote Nazi Ideology". You can see my full take on it by clicking on the story name. Lets just say I'm still not really very happy with the what happened.

I noticed that in Answers to councillors questions for the forthcoming Barnet Council meeting, Councillor Mike Freer was asked the following question and gave the following response.

Question 14

Councillor Jack Cohen

Please explain how the Council allowed a video containing an anti- Semitic content to be released on the internet.

Answer by Councillor Mike Freer, Leader of the Council

The Council is embarking on new ways in which we can engage and capture the views of residents to assist the shaping of future service provision. Part of this work included the recording of 17 videos with residents in the Childs Hill and Hale wards of the Borough.


Each video was recorded by an external third party and edited prior to being sent onto the Council where a further viewing took place. One video was uploaded on 28 September 2008.

One complaint was received in relation to the video from a resident. Corporately, discussions took place as to whether the video should remain to stimulate debate or be removed however following an e-mail from the Leader of the Council at 7.30am on 3 October 2008 the offending video was removed by 9am the same day.

Any future videos uploaded to Council websites involving the views of residents will follow the OFCOM Broadcast Guidelines, will be subject to a double editing process and will be vetted by the Council’s Strategic Equalities Advisor. Mistakes occur it is how they are handled that is important and my response was swift once the issue was brought to my attention.

As ever with Councillor Freer, there is a pattern. His administration makes an avoidable and stupid mistake. There is an uproar. Questions are asked. Councillor Mike Freer gives an answer which implies he's done a great job.

Well his answer neglects to mention a few things. Firstly it neglects to say that initially the council refused to take down the clip. Secondly, it doesn't say why staff weren't properly trained in the first place to avoid such obvious banana skins or follow OFCOM rules. It doesn't say that the resident who, quite justifiably, complained has yet to receive an apology. We all agree that mistakes are made, but this is a serious breakdown in the council's procedures and processes. It shows a complete lack of proper training for staff.

There are some disturbing questions which Councillor Freer's answer poses. He says Corporately, discussions took place as to whether the video should remain to stimulate debate or be removed. Now to me the only debate this clip could possibly have stimulated is one as to just how incompetent Barnet Council has become under Mike Freer's leadership. What was the debate that they wanted to start? Who thought we needed to have this debate? What did they hope this debate would achieve? These questions need to be put to Councillor Freer as a matter of urgency. I don't want the council to stimulate debate as to whether "Jews are normal people" (one of the issues raised in the clip). I am disturbed that senior people at the council could even suggest such a debate at a corporate level.

Just as a comparison, let us review the situation with Radio 2 airing the show featuring Russell Brand and Jonathan Ross making stupid phone calls to Andrew Sachs. Following this broadcast, the controller of Radio 2 resigned and Russell Brand resigned. They accepted that material had been broadcast which was totally inappropriate and likely to cause offence. Surely this is equally true of the Barnet YouTube clip. Not only that, but the YouTube clip was potentially inciteful. Councillor Mike Freer thought it was serious enough to even refer it to the Police. To me this is far more serious than Brand's comments which were just boorish and uncouth.

I say this to you Mike - A good leader puts procedures in place which avoid this sort of fiasco. A well run Council doesn't promote views that contravene the law of the land.

In a later question, Councillor Freer gives the game away in an answer to Labour Member Charlie O'Macaulay. Here he admits that he's the guy who is ultimately responsible.

Question 50

Councillor Charlie O-Macauley

When will the Administration re-introduce a Cabinet Committee whose sole remit is to ensure equalities are properly monitored in the implementation of Council policy?

Answer by Councillor Mike Freer, Leader of the Council

This Administration has made more progress on equality and diversity since the subject became a personal responsibility of mine with regular progress reported through the many reports approved by Cabinet. This is far more effective than the previous talking shop approach of a Cabinet Sub-Committee that achieved little.

Does Mike Freer think equality and diversity be promoted by the council placing right wing propaganda on the internet and leaving it there in the face of a justified residents complaint? Councillor Mike Freer has taken personal responsibility for setting up the processess and procedures, he says so in his answer. I'd have thought rule 1 of any procedures to promote diversity would be to say "The council shall not tolerate any behaviour which denigrates any citizen of Barnet because of race or creed." Applying this simple rule would have instantly disqualified the YouTube clip.

So lets recap. Councillor Mike Freer has taken personal responsibility for promoting diversity. He said so in a Council meeting. The council placed a YouTube video on the Internet promoting Anti Semitic views. He is responsible both as council leader and with his special role which he described to Councillor O-Macauley. He is clearly aware that members of his organisation want to promote debate on the merits of anti-semitic views. What action has he taken? Let me ask Councillor Freer this? What happens if you are responsible for broadcasting offensive material. Ask Russell Brand and his ex boss if you are unsure of the answer?