Today we have a rant from the ‘pen’ of @RoyTheArtist. His art website is full of interesting ‘how-to’ videos whilst his blog is the place to visit if you want to talk art with him. He has some things he’d like to get off his chest. Roy, over to you …
OK, well they are real people but what I am moaning about here is all the silly ‘fluff’ some people send me- not you of course- I mean like on facebook. X has just lost a kitten in find a kitten a home game do you want to help x find a kitten a home? Or Y has grown a giraffe from left over potato peelings in farmzooville. I don’t want to play guys! How about ‘hi Roy how are you? Or just turn of the messages from those games.
Another irritant- and some grown ups are guilty of this- text messages that say ’send this banal irritating message to 10 friends in 10 minutes and all their love will flow back to you.’ If you ever get a message like that from me, please send the men in white coats. Is it just me? am I a grumpy old man? Well yes, probably. Send this message to 10 friends in 10 mi………(oh- so that’s a straight jacket)
So what can we learn from Roy’s rant (other than to not ask him to help us find our lost puppy 
)? The missing ingredient for Roy is decent communication and relationship building. I personally share his frustrations but being a little younger and less vocal, I prefer to turn off the notifications or just hit ‘delete’.
I was wondering about this whole genre of irritants. Who’s to blame? Should we look to Facebook and the creators of the applications to stop asking us to invite our friends to everything? Or should we as intelligent adults, take more responsibility for our behaviour and just choose not to send this rubbish on?
I’m torn and I shall tell you why … Give A Brick asks everyone to Give A Brick and then tell their friends. The only way this is going to be effective is for Give A Brick to go viral. That doesn’t need to be via a Facebook application but the principle is the same.
As irritiating as those messages are, they work. A percentage of people help Jane eat her left over pot roast. The profile of the game is raised and suddenly, the whole world knows about Café World and the creative brains behind it.
If Roy is right and it needs to be more about relationships and communication, can that go viral? Can Give A Brick ask everyone to Give A Brick and tell their friends just by being lovely? I’d love to know what you think 
Over to you. Can you add to Roy’s list? How are other folks killing your joy of social media? Can relationships and communication win the day?
Please add a comment and retweet.
It’s just another one of the ways you can Give A Brick and then tell your friends
photo credit: Sergio Otero
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{ 5 comments… read them below or add one }
Twitter: benlumley6
February 4, 2010 at 7:15 pm
I think we do this Eleanor because it does 1 of 2 things.
1) We know it annoys people but we do it anyway because we get something out of it. This makes us feel significant in others eyes because when they reciprocate we know that in a small way maybe that they care.
2) Because it’s easier than having the “Hi, how are you?” conversation. To do that opens us to rejection and people potential showing that they don’t care about us. That’s a scary feeling isn’t it? Most of the time to fear of rejection in unjustified but that doesn’t stop our conscious or even sub-conscious from fear it anyway.
Ben´s last blog ..Music: The Soundtrack to life
Twitter: GiveABrick
February 4, 2010 at 7:34 pm
That’s very profound Ben. I hadn’t though of it like that. So it all comes down to a need to feel wanted and loved? It frightens me sometimes to think just how important love is to us humans. Hmmmmm, I need some more time to think about that one. Thank you.
Eleanor´s last blog ..1 Minute Motivator: Dream Big
Twitter: benlumley6
February 4, 2010 at 8:42 pm
Yeah – in my mind that’s what it boils down to. People might think I’m over-simplifying it but when you get down to the root of things, the need for love or connection and the fear of not having is is usually the driving force.
Ben´s last blog ..Music: The Soundtrack to life
Twitter: elledine
February 5, 2010 at 2:55 am
I recently joined a social media site and when I first saw the give a calf a home message I thought it was a joke. Then I realized it was an invite to a game.
Next, people sent me flowers and hearts. Rather than a perfect bunch of social lavender, I would have enjoyed a quick hello or a meaningful exchange.
I wanted to rant about this also in a blog and call it “Please don’t send me flowers.”
I haven’t because I realized that the sender thought they were showing they cared. Instead, I have started sending a personal message back to encourage real conversation.
Wow..was that a hot button subject for me or what!
Thanks for the post,
Michelle
Michelle Licudine´s last blog ..For the love of screen printing
Twitter: GiveABrick
February 5, 2010 at 1:24 pm
Hi Michelle,
Thanks for taking the time to share. It’s seems you and Roy have a lot in common. It’s never really bothered me, I just tend to ignore the nonsense. However, I love the way you’ve been trying to engage in real, genuine conversation instead. How’s that been working out?
It reminds me of something I started doing with DMs on Twitter just yesterday. I think you and I will have to compare notes sometime as it sounds like it could make an interesting follow-up post.
Eleanor´s last blog ..How to Survive the Fog