ONE GOOD TURN...

Following on from my last post about the Facebook thing, it seems they wanted me to send an `official ID` because the photo I had used in my Facebook account turned out to be one of a certain Mr. George Clooney.  Apparently it`s not just me and there have been thousands of accounts suspended or removed in cases where people had not used their real names and so, as a security measure, Facebook have been asking for `official IDs.`

Now my initial reaction was to resist, as I wasn`t sure about the validity of their request, but a lot of digging around seemed to suggest that it might be OK after all.   In addition to which I have been conscious that my absence from `social media` might cause at least a degree of disquiet among my Facebook friends and those pages to which I have been contributing.

Now the reason my photo turned out to be Mr. Clooney was that I really didn`t have a reasonable likeness of myself and Mr. Clooney`s image was the most accurate lookalike I could find at the time.  So, I submitted a photo of my driving licence to Facebook, which showed my name, date of birth and `photo`but with other personal details blanked out, which they have accepted and reactivated my account.   So I`m back being `social` again.

The curious thing, though, is that my reactivated account still shows Mr. Clooney`s image and so it really would not surprise me at all if Mr. Clooney has had the same issue with Facebook and has been using a photo of me on his Facebook page.  One good turn surely deserves another.......

NURSE !!!!

FIRST THINGS FIRST...

I hesitate to enter into the brouhaha between David, Reg, Domenico and Stefano.  How they live their lives is neither my business nor my concern.  But they have made their little tiff public and in the process have provoked a deluge of opinions, prejudices and commentaries from perhaps too many bystanders, many of whom seek nothing more than a little attention for themselves.

I have no doubt that there are a large number of people who find it all rather difficult to come to terms with, especially among those who hail from a different time, when things were oh so very different.   I`m not suggesting that those times were either any better or any worse - they were just very different and, as a result, like old dogs struggling with new tricks, there is a whole generation who are puzzled by many aspects of today`s world and wonder quite what to make of it all.

But surely the most important people in all of this are the children, born through a wonderful medical process into `families` who will surely cherish them, care for them and love them, which is all that children crave really.  I`m sure that what they won`t crave is to be caught up in the  public and social media hysteria promulgated by people whose unsolicited opinions are of doubtful relevance and who seem quite incapable of realising that it should be all about the children rather than about themselves.

TWITTER YE NOT..

I confess to having nothing to do with Twitter and only the occasional flirtation with Facebook, thanks to someone opening an account for me some years ago.  Now it may be a generational thing but I harbour some serious doubts about  the value of`social media` anyway.   In general, they seem to pander to the insecurities of people who are anxious to be seen, heard or, in some desperate cri de couer, need to be `included.`  It`s all a bit sad really.

There`s a lot of fuss right now about people being abused on Twitter, notably some lady who campaigned for a woman to appear on the new £10 banknote and she is bemoaning the fact that others may not have agreed with her feminist stance and have taken to dishing out some grief in her direction.   There have been other examples, notably from so-called `celebrities` who seem fine all the time they`re being `followed` but who are quick to take offence when some folk just don`t like them and tell them so.

I`m sure this is just too simple for words but if you don`t like Twitter and all the other `social media` gubbins, just don`t go there. Stay out of it. It`s not compulsory and you have a choice.   As for me, I`m not on Twitter, don`t want to follow anyone in particular and, in any case, would find it difficult to say anything remotely cogent in 140 characters.