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I don't have to tell you times are bad. You have other places you go for that. However, as the recent result of all the new privacy laws trickle through the various sites at varying paces, an interesting phenomenon has taken place. First, let's talk about the purge, not to be confused with the movie franchise of the same name.

This one took place on Twitter, and by extension, the other social media sites as well. At the same time, a proliferation of 'bots has materialized on Facebook, and with my steer into the iceberg philosophy fully intact, I plan to max out my book of the face friends at the titular number.

Other sites play the friends game differently. You can have as many connections on LinkedIn™ as you want, and I'm a LION there. If you don't know what that is, look it up. Most of you are using your social media responsibly, while the rest of the planet is attempting to monetize your experience there. I may be somewhat guilty of this, as I ask you to buy me a few cups of coffee every time I post something new. Coffee keeps the virtual engine running, and if you were around during the 80's, Coffee Achiever is a title that I would gladly embrace.

However, you're not obligated to buy me coffee, or anything else for that matter. Pay Per Click, or PPC, has taken over the entire 'net. Advertising and subscription are the only two valid ways to make any kind of money, and the tech exists for anyone to do both, and the big boys want to keep all of theirs, while giving you crumbs.

What's this got to do with anything?
Well, I'll tell you, if for no other reason to make some semblance of an arbitrary word count deemed current by search engines this week. Most of those accounts that were purged were NOT real people. They were 'bots programmed to artificially inflate clicks. Someone figured this out, and as server space is at a premium these days, and they decided to do something about it. I've talked about the GDPR elsewhere, and IIRC, May 25th is when all of this started.

It may have started before that with fallout from #Brexit, but I'm only descended from Irish Nobility. I don't live in the UK, and I'm only remotely affected by things they do there, like drive on the wrong side of the street. Of course, from their POV, we're driving on the wrong side of the street, but that's because we rebelled (See:American Revolution).

I don't necessarily know with absolute certainty that A implies B in this case, I just have a notion that it's true. I didn't start getting face requests on Friendsbook, wait. Strike that. Reverse it. Until after the purge that took place, what a week ago?

So, I'm simply going to sit back and allow all the 'bots to request friendship, and I'll let them know that the ship is sinking. Because if the other indicators of desperation are true, it's only a matter of time before the book of faces collapses under it's own weight. Hint: Nothing is too big to fail. They just perform BADLY.

72 and Sunny in Redondo Beach. Adjust your expectations accordingly™