Fartbook

In my quest to find a job (or how did I put it in a previous blog… find shore line to which to drop anchor…) I have had to fill out numerous applications and attach my resume. This is a daunting process. Personally, I would rather show up and say, “Look. I am qualified. I work hard. Give me the job.”

WARNING RANDOM RANT: In this process, I have applied for unemployment. I am not keen on the idea; however, one must do what one must do. In looking over past pay stubs, it is obvious that I paid into the system, thus, I should reap some of the benefits, yes? It baffles me; however, that for a benefit I worked for, paid into, clearly met the criteria for, have to put on my taxes (yep, its on the W-2) I have to jump through hoops. Weekly, I have to fill out a form and certify under penalty of the law that I have looked for a job and have received no money and submit it. Now, I have to show up at the unemployment office with proof that I have actively been seeking jobs – a minimum of 3 per week – for each week I received my benefits. In addition, I must bring a copy of my resume and a photo ID. What? Help me understand. People go ape crazy if they are asked to show an ID to vote but I have to show ID for a benefit I have been receiving. And I have to show them my resume? How much do you want to bet the person I meet with has less experience and qualifications than I do? Do people have to show proof they are actively trying to get off welfare? That isn’t even their money. They did nothing to pay into it or earn it. In fact, I did. Do they have to show a photo ID? Unemployment is capped regardless of what the wages were at the time. You get paid more welfare based on your household. What kind of crap is that? I do know before I go, I will need to pray to be mindful and for a filter. RANT COMPLETE.

Throughout this process, I have learned cover letters are not my strong point. I think it is because I am not entirely comfortable talking about myself. I am used to writing and removing the words I, me, myself from the narrative. A good communications person makes it about the reader or the audience and in order to do that, it needs to be about them.  Cover letters with that approach tend to be condescending. I feel cover letters about myself are nothing more than restating the job description. Let’s be honest, doesn’t the employer know what the job description says? They know what they are looking for. If you are applying for the position, obviously you read the job description. Thus one can logically assume you meet the qualifications or feel you do. They can interview you to find out the how and why. Then, too, I tend to give people more credit than they deserve.

I apply for a range of positions because my skill set and experience covers a range of positions. I am skilled at many things; highly skilled at a few things. I can master anything. There are a few things I truly love and excel at. I try hard to stick with those.

In the case of Communications, I have found employers want samples of my work. I could link them to this blog; however, I think the psychotic one might turn them off a bit.  In the case of social media, they really want links to my social media pages. Here we are at an impasse. I don’t have personal social media accounts.

While I manage them for employers, I never found the use for them personally. It takes time and energy to upkeep them. And they are annoying. I watched this show LetterKenny. It perfectly described my feelings on facebook. They started a social media endeavor called FartBook. It was a place where folks could share their farts. Seriously. It was amazingly stupid and a wee bit funny. But it grew. The point was people will share anything. Come on, you record your farts and upload them so people can listen or watch? Really? We can take a minute and discuss the whole alleged facebook scandal but it is only alleged. I say that because what idiot doesn’t know that nothing is private on the internet? Do you really think the ads that pop up just happen to match your searches or posts by chance? AI may be good but it is not that good and even if it were, it still had to come from somewhere. Where do you think it came from? What you posted or searched from, hence it wasn’t private.

I do not have a facebook page for many reasons. I am not the most social person. I do not find it amusing to have people comment on things. I may get irritated and snap back. I am highly opinionated and thus, I would more than likely say and post things that would offend and if seen would certainly not win friends and influence people… especially potential employers. I also do not understand why people find it appealing. I remember growing up and having a diary. We tried to keep it a secret. It was a mortal sin to go into someones diary and read their thoughts. Why now do we post everything for the world to read? It is a haven for criminals, perverts and more. You post when you are going to the bathroom, on vacation, your habits, your preferences, your thoughts. It is a stalking ground.

Instagram is great. I loved using it in my work. Personally, I do not have the time to create and keep it up. Millennials love it because it gives them a place to stash all those selfies they take. Its a narcissist’s dream.  Twitter can be useful but it is time consuming. I prefer TweetDeck or HooteSuite as a multi-tasker. Twitter takes a lot of time and energy if you want it to be truly successful or have a strong presence. Not to mention, I am not “hip” on social media shorthand so just the shear limitations of the messaging is a pain. (I do tend to be long winded.) YouTube is so vast. I’ve always wanted to do a pod cast. But then I don’t because of the same reasons I don’t have fartbook. I know how to upload to YouTube and live stream to it which is what most employers want. I love Flickr. It is merely a depository and repository for photos. Very boring and mundane. One can do a lot with it if one knows how to use it.

I do have LinkedIn. I created it years ago. never used it for much. In this job search, I updated it. What I do not like about it is the fact that folks do not use it for what it was designed for. It is turning in to a business version of fartbook. What is the good of having this powerful tool of contacts, business connections, wealth of knowledge and tools if it becomes nothing more than how many connections does your profile have? Let’s look at their profile… how many connections do they have? Its like followers only they call it connections. I personally choose not to randomly or haphazardly connect with people. I connect with people I know or in some way have a connection with or wish to connect with. Every connection has to chose the connection and view your profile. Meaning, they see your work, experience, skills, etc. I could care less if I have a 1000 connections. I do care who sees my profile, who I am connected with and how I can leverage those connections. That was and is supposed to be the purpose of LinkedIn.

I Pinterest. I must admit, I can spend hours on Pinterest. I think people use pinterest for different reasons. They can tell you what their reasons are. For me, I learned years ago that I could use pinterest as part of therapy. There are a few things the bipolar brain does – it hoards, it likes to accumulate, it likes the hunt, it likes to learn, it is chaotic, it can be random, it finds patterns, etc. Pinterest can address all of these things. I hoard on my  boards. If I feel the need to get new things, I simply find new stuff or create a new board and pin away… my brain gets the same satisfaction. When I search, it is like hunting. When I am not sure what it is I am looking for but I know I am looking for something, I just scroll and scroll and scroll until I find something where my brain goes, ‘There it is!’ I love random stupid facts. There is a ton of it out there. Ever just pull up pinterest and open it? It is chaotic. Putting or making order of it can be soothing. Figuring out the pattern in its recommendations is in and of itself fun. So, yes, pinterest for me is therapy but just fun. You can find anything on pinterest. (We will talk about my boards another time.)

I recognize that social media is a necessary evil in today’s world. I learned that and as much and as long as I avoided it, I couldn’t in the job I did. I accepted it, adapted, embraced it, learned it, mastered it and became good at it. But I did so without making it personal. I used it as a tool and as a tool it had great potential and great benefits. As with all things,  people get in the way.

Take church. I love it when a person says, ‘Well Jesus only had 12 followers.’ Really? Not true. He had 12 Disciples. His followers were much greater or do we forget that? How many showed up at the Sermon on the Mount? If that Sermon was streamed live on YouTube or Facebook, how many hits would it have? Followers, my friends do not always equate to friends or believers. I do believe even the Priests and the Romans at the time were followers of Christ. People came from great distances just to be in His presence. Remember the woman who just touched His robe? If that isn’t a follower, I do not know what is. If we were to equate it today, in social media terms, even with His 12, those 12 would have followers, yes? And their followers in turn would follow Christ giving Him more followers.

There in lies the beauty of social media. It can be used in ways never before imagined to spread a message never heard before. The followers, friends and connections you have may truly be friends and those who care or believe or they may be priests, Romans and those who want nothing more than to keep tabs on what you are doing. Facebook started with the best intentions. All things do. But then, people happened. Even the commercials you see now for facebook… let’s go back to what it was supposed to be, what it was created for… let’s be real. Fartbook is more appealing.

Maybe none of this makes any sense to you. That is ok. Makes sense to me. I’ll Pinterest and forget all about it in a few minutes. But take a minute and ask yourself this, do you know the difference between a disciple and a follower? What’s more, do you know the difference between believing and knowing? Make a true connection not just a mere click. And while fartbook may be more appealing, Facebook can be a powerful tool. Believe it can be, know your worth so you are not fooled by its lure, follow the righteous path by being the disciple we are called to be.

Now, next application… oh look, a pin…