Hmmm, to befriend or not befriend? That is the question.
I have been dragged reluctantly into the Windows 10 world. I am gradually making the adjustment despite my grudge against Microsoft for playing the negative option consent card. But it has not been a seamless transition. I have had to stumble around, cursing a blue streak as I do so, to decipher where things have been moved to and/or how they have been renamed.
The thing which irritates me is that nothing is easier, at least from my perspective, than it was with the version of Windows I had before. I am tempted to call it Windex 10 since it really seems to be just a spit and polish job.
On a related note, the forced upgrade has kicked off a bit of a dispute inside my laptop. My Norton antivirus software is regularly badmouthing Microsoft Edge – something to do with “extensions”that Edge allegedly does not take into account.
Norton is trying to convince me to upgrade to a higher level of their software to bridge the gap. I half suspect the two companies are in cahoots to con me. If I go for the Norton upgrade, will I get Microsoft pop-up window telling me I now need to jump to another level of Windows?
Upgrades and look-and-feel rejigs are a fact of life in the software and social media world. I am anticipating the next facelift of Facebook that will no doubt arrive without warning and leave me scratching my head to figure out “Where did that damn button get moved to?”
Meanwhile, Facebook algorithms keep multiplying and cross-pollinating in the background making it a crap shoot whose status updates I will see tomorrow. And my timeline is treading a fine line that I do not really understand. Is it time for me to fall in line? Or should I continue to debate where the line is drawn?
I feel an Ode coming on.
The social media universe, oh my, it does seem so perverse. I have tried, I have tried, to put my reticence aside. But do I need another friend? Another Bob or Rob of Sven? Do I have to like his page? It does seem all the rage.
I took a chance on Pinterest. But it could not hold my interest, so I have more or less put it to rest. I took a tumble with Tumblr. But it does not seem to have my number. Perhaps I am just weary of the theory, that one can never have too many friends. But to what end?
I do, forsooth, pledge my loyalty to Twitter, for it rarely leaves me bitter. It stays faithfully the same, so as not to tax my brain. A tweet is a tweet is a tweet, and ever shall be.
Alas, I started out on Microsoft, but wandered into other thoughts. It seems I have fallen into rhyme, with a taste for alliteration, as I contemplate the state, of the social network slate.
The truth? Oh yes, the truth. I would rather fashion metaphors, than open all these virtual doors. So I will leave the younger man, to pitch his brand on Instagram. As for me, I am disposed, to compose my thoughtful prose, and row the oars of metaphor, till I linger here no more.
~ Michael Robert Dyet is the author of “Until the Deep Water Stills – An Internet-enhanced Novel” – double winner in the Reader Views Literary Awards 2009. Visit Michael’s website at www.mdyetmetaphor.com or the novel online companion at www.mdyetmetaphor.com/blog.
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Tags: Facebook · Instagram · metaphor · Michael Robert Dyet · Microsoft · Norton · Pinterest · Tumblr · Twitter · Windows 10No Comments