Horse 1327 - Two Dollar Yelling

http://news.cnet.com/8301-33692_3-57432943-305/pay-$2-to-promote-your-facebook-status/
Pay $2 to promote your Facebook status?
Foxconn confirms there is an Apple television in the works, the makers of Angry Birds have a new game franchise, and you may be able to pay Facebook to promote your status update. Would you pay $2 to get your Facebook status message seen by more people? It's something Facebook is testing in New Zealand. 
- From C/Net, Bridget Carey  May 11, 2012 

In a word where Twitbook, FaceSpace and MyBebo are ubiquitous, it seems that everyone shouting into the void has created something of a problem. It would appear that we've created a cacophony of dunces, all yelling simultaneously; so much so that Facebook has thought it worthwhile to "monetise" people's need to be heard and decided to charge idiots $2 for the prvilege of yelling louder.
I think it is a top idea, and will do its bit to take money from people who are obviously to dumb to have it in the first place.

Over the past 15 years I've seen firstly people's homepages change, then people started blogging, and when that fell out of favour, microblogging on so called social media. It was suggested on ABC 702 Sydney's "Drive" program hosted by Richard Glover, that Facebook's move is both reflective and vanguard that people online are becoming more and more narcissistic but I really wonder if that's even true.

George Orwell wrote in his 1946 essay "Why I Write" that there were four reasons why people write, and they are:
1. Sheer Egoism
2. Aesthetic Enthusiasm
3. Historical Impulse
4. Political Purpose

I think that it's fairly obvious that Facebook's latest maneuver is an attempt to make money off of people's drive to fulfill the first purpose on Orwell's list. If you prefer to believe that people are selfish from either a religious or secular perspective is entirely your business, but the fact remains that every writer wants to be heard. Selfish people which we all are, have a need for validation that doesn't go away very easily and paying to have your statuses promoted seems like a logical step.
The thing is though, that in order for people to actually take note of your promoted status update, people need to be logged on to Facebook at the time. If you happen to be like me and think that Facebook is largely a waste of time, then paying to have a status update promoted is a colossal waste of money and I wouldn't do it, likewise other people as far as I'm concerned are also wasting their money.
I find Twitter on the other hand most useful but not because have to know about what people had for lunch, but rather, Twitter lends itself to reposting and linking to actual news stories better.
Obviously I'd be lying if I said that I write with no desire to fulfil my ego at all (that's largely impossible) but the point remains, that I hardly ever use Facebook and even on this blog itself, I scarcely write about what actually goes on in my life because that is quite boring.

I will also suggest that if you are the sort of person who thinks that paying to have your Facebookiness promoted is worthwhile, then the chances are that you probably are driven by a bigger ego, in which case I am going to judge what you want promoted is more likely to be worthless and uninteresting.