I recently opened a facebook account under the name Canis Calabrian (a fictional prehistoric dog) to serve as a social-media point of contact for persons who might be interested in my new book. Yes I know I have frequently railed against the evils of social media (and will continue to do so), and the presence of anarcho-primitivists on facebook seems on the surface to be a glaring contradiction. But, then, the Church doesn’t send missionaries to the Vatican.
I wanted to put a link to facebook on this blog to close the loop. And it turns out that there is a very convenient facebook widget designed for just such a purpose, something called a facebook badge.
Badge?
Is it supposed to be like a merit badge? An award? The badge worn by an official? A cop? A meat inspector? Maybe it is meant as a symbol of affiliation, something like the stars pinned on Jews in Nazi Germany (all-aboard the facebook train). Or maybe calling it a badge is just supposed to tap into a juvenile “badges are cool” sentiment: badges are sparkly things worn by people with power.
Given the way most people use social media, I strongly suspect the latter.
I took the liberty of appending a brief disclaimer to my badge.
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