I’m writing this post through a service called ThisNext, a kind of social networking web site that focuses on shopping. People recommend things to buy, writing short reviews of them and arranging them into lists.
Among the items that are reviewed and recommended on the network are political bumper stickers - this one, for example.
I appreciate this bumper sticker’s effort to stretch Americans’ political memories. Back in the year 2000, America chose George W. Bush, believing his promise that he would bring honor and integrity to the White House. Barack Obama is offered by the sticker as a long-awaited fulfillment of that promise.
It’s a great message for Obama supporters, but I do want to offer a caveat emptor message: Barack Obama is making a lot of promises, just like George W. Bush did. We won’t know whether he’ll fulfill those promises until he’s actually President. Progressives, as much as anyone else, will need to watch Barack Obama like a hawk, and work to hold him accountable to his promises.
A caveat emptor for ThisNext too. ThisNext offers a means through which people can write articles like this, for their own blogs, on the ThisNext web site.
Think about it for just a second, and you’ll realize that people who write blogs can ALREADY write blog articles about bumper stickers, or anything else for sale for that matter, without the ThisNext widget.
Writing a blog article on ThisNext actually is more difficult, because it doesn’t allow the use of html. A blog article with no links? How useless is that?
Well, it’s actually very useful for ThisNext, because there is one link in this article - to the bumper sticker listed on ThisNext, which provides ThisNext with a source of affiliate income. How very convenient for them. How very useless for bloggers.
My experiment with blogging through ThisNext is done.
Now I’m going to have to go back in and remove that garbage code, and place in my own link to the bumper sticker - direct, without any extra affiliate nonsense. Thanks for nothing, ThisNext. I’ll keep blogging for myself.
The more I see of social networking sites like ThisNext, the more I think that independent web sites are really the way to go for substantial networking. Making links and “friends” comes quick and easy on social networking sites, but so easy that the benefit is ephemeral, the relationships lasting just as long as a click.
Others will have a harder time. They cannot conceive that a man like Barack Obama could become President of the United States. It makes the bile rise in their own throats.
