Date: Wed, 23 Feb 2011 21:42:14 -0500
From: "Mike B." <yahoo at omniphile.com>
To: WSFA members <WSFAlist at KeithLynch.net>
Subject: [WSFA] Re: Dumb facebook question, Worldcon-related
Reply-To: WSFA members <WSFAlist at KeithLynch.net>

On 2/23/2011 9:07 PM, Keith F. Lynch wrote:
> mark<whitroth at 5-cent.us>  wrote:
>> Since I do not go to Facebook for anything,
>
> Me neither.  I am singularly unimpressed that whatever Facebook page
> I try to look at, I get:
>
>    You are using an incompatible web browser.
>    Sorry, we're not cool enough to support your browser.
>
> You'd think they'd have gotten around to fixing their site by now,
> but no, not yet.

If I assume that you are using Lynx, would I be wrong?

If I'm not, then I'd say they are never going to "fix" their website,
since it isn't broken.  It's a heavily graphical site, and there's no
way to make it work through an 80 column text terminal display.  Even if
they converted all the faces on facebook to ASCII art, you probably
wouldn't be able to recognize anyone at that resolution.

That said, I can't quite figure out why various organizations have moved
wholesale into the ghetto of facebook, or AOL, or Yahoo groups, or any
other privately run, you-have-to-register-and-give-up-info-to-look,
dangerous-technology-using sites, rather than setting up their own
website to advertise themselves with, where they can provide critical
information to anyone who is looking for it, regardless of handicaps
involved (whether Luddite, blind, restricted by government regulations,
or whatever).  It's not like a web site is an expensive form of
advertising.

If you want to use facebook, twitter, or whatever in addition to having
a website, to funnel people to your website or to provide interaction
with those in those particular ghettos using their preferred methods,
fine, but to do so exclusively is as stupid as having a Flash-only site,
or one that won't work at all without special plug-ins or dangerous
levels of security removal being necessary.  The idea behind advertising
is to reach *all* of your potential customers, and anything that limits
access to your message is counterproductive to that.

-- Mike B.