Facebook has become “unfriendly”

It seems to have become a tool for business-promotion.
“‘Like’ us and receive free coupons.”
“Liking” has been perverted. I thought “liking” was to be one-sided. This sounds like a business transaction. Tit-for-tat! Do this and you get a discount.
Facebook has also gotten extraordinarily technical.
A friend described it perfectly.
“It’s hard to navigate,” he said.
“You need to set parameters,” he said.
“Parameters, schmameters,” I thought. “I got better things to do.”
It reminds me of my newspaper’s website, which when I was doing it wasn’t too challenging.
Now it’s so complicated I no longer look at it.
Facebook is the same way.
Every night I get up around 1 a.m. to let my dog out.
When I do I fire up my iPhone to see if I got any e-mails while I was asleep.
I’ve gotten e-mails from people who were up after midnight.
The other night I got one from Facebook.
“See what you missed!” it blared.
Is Suckerberg monitoring my visits?
I clicked the e-mail, and once I got past the solicitation to get “Facebook for iPhone” — I don’t call that “viewing what I missed......”
I opened a gigantic e-mail of pictures and links to every “friend” posting I hadn’t viewed.
It went on-and-on through at least 15 screens. I gave up; I tired of scrolling.
That -a) a friend will soon turn 44, and -b) another friend photographed a pretty sunset (she attached a picture), are interesting, but “Hello Marsha” isn’t.
A lot of what’s on Facebook is like that, drivel.
I admit, I’ve always been mad at Facebook. That’s because they pulled a fast-one to get me to join, and/or, I was ignorant of what I was doing. To use my ignorance to get me to sign up is a fast-one to me: manipulation.
I also don’t like that Facebook is always different every time I visit. I always have to figure it out. They’re always dickering. They can’t leave well-enough alone.
—My brother-in-Boston refuses to get a Facebook. With Facebook your privacy gets tossed out the window.
—Another friend refuses to get Facebook: “I got enough real friends as it is.” True, and Facebook “friends” aren’t the same as real friends. Facebookers brag about how many “friends” they have. Some have thousands. I stopped at 47. My aunt has only one “friend,” my brother who set her up.
—Another friend, who has a Facebook, suggests “Facebook is for those lacking a life.”
I’ve been tempted to end my Facebook.
But I haven’t.
I have actual friends who use Facebook.
Although I’m sick of the ads with some lithesome big-breasted smiling hotty, displaying acres of cleavage, trumpeting mortgage refinance for Seniors (like me).
And ads of pictures I’ve posted on this blog as PhotoBucket links.
I put up with it, but hardly ever look at it.
And you can bet your bottom dollar I never click those ads.
I clicked one once for my high-school yearbook, and now I get e-mails every day suggesting I join: “only 25 bucks gets you instant gratification and meaning for your life.”
I’ve categorized those e-mails as “junk,” but they seem to have some cookie that unjunks them.

• “My newspaper” is the Canandaigua Daily-Messenger, from where I retired over seven years ago. Best job I ever had — I worked there almost 10 years (over 11 if you count my time as a post-stroke unpaid intern [I had a stroke October 26, 1993, from which I recovered fairly well]). (“Canandaigua” [“cannan-DAY-gwuh”] is a small city nearby where I live in Western NY. The city is also within a rural town called “Canandaigua.” The name is Indian, and means “Chosen Spot.” —It’s about 14 miles away.)
• “Suckerberg” is of course Mark Zuckerberg, head-honcho of Facebook.