I'm not sure where to even begin with this next story. It involves Facebook, Fox News talking head Glenn Beck and a poodle in a tin foil hat. Do you begin to see my difficulty here? Here are the basics in case you haven't heard about it already.
Among the many, many, many ways to waste your life on Facebook there are fan pages. These are pretty much exactly what they sound like. Pages dedicated to the breathless swooning by fans of actors, singers, bands, what have you. But recently there has been a blizzard of fan pages dedicated to concepts like "Can this onion ring get more fans than Justin Bieber", "Can Ryan Miller get more fans than Sidney Crosby?". And of course the "Can This Poodle in a Tin Foil Hat Get More Fans Than Glenn Beck?". Then you try and attract more people to sign on as fans of your page than the other guy.
Sounds pretty harmless right? Rather insane in a "Don't you have anything better to do with your time" kind of way but harmless. Yet somehow Facebook has decided that Bob the Wonder Poodle, that's the canine in question, is an offense...to something. The original page is the brainchild of one Dale Blank who is still rather surprised about the fuss. Facebook has put a "publish block" on the site meaning that no new members can join and the page can't promote itself on site. The social media giant claims that he has violated some obscure part of the guidelines for pages. Obscure because Facebook still hasn't managed to produce any kind of clear explanation of the rationale behind the block. Actually they're starting to resemble a certain southern tier congressman because their story keeps changing every time they tell it. Blank thinks that it may simply be that the site grew so fast that it triggered a security check to make sure it wasn't a hate site. He's quick to note that he doesn't much care about Glenn Beck one way or the other he was just a convenient target in a campaign to promote rational thought. There are lots of these sites out there. It didn't take me long to find two that use President Obama as their punching bag. The goat versus Obama site has been blocked but the squirrel versus the President hasn't. Likewise the Onion ring versus Canadian Prime Minister Steven Harper site is still open.
So what then to make of all this? I've looked at the sites and I don't see hate speech. I don't see great political satire either. As a First Amendment issue this is...interesting. I mean come on wouldn't you love to see the Supreme Court looking at Bob the Wonder Poodle plus assorted vegetables versus Facebook? Do some people have way too much time on their hands? Check. Does Facebook need to stop being such a prissy little snot about this? Check.
Call that The View From the Phlipside.
"The View From the Phlipside" airs on WRFA-LP Jamestown NY. You can listen to WRFA online HERE
Copyright - Jay Phillippi 2010
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