It's the social-networking equivalent of someone handing you a note in grade school saying, "Do you like me?"
Facebook is asking you to click its new "Like" button. Like, a lot.
The button is nothing new to Facebook obsessives; it started appearing on the site a while back as a way to show solidarity with a friend's update without having to comment on it.
You may have noticed Facebook fan pages (like, say, the one for your favorite alternative newsweekly) have had their "fans" changed to "likes." As this change was made, the social-media network had also been busy populating the Internet with similar "like" buttons. These buttons are similar to a "print this article" button, but instead of getting a hard copy of a webpage, these buttons will alert all of your friends about a) your ever-expanding tastes and b) your willingness to click on just about anything online.
But what end does this serve?
It's hard to find anyone nowadays who hasn't used Google. Even when people know what they're looking for online, sometimes it's easier to just type in a few letters and click the top result. Well, Facebook wants in on the action. A staggering amount of people get their news from the Google News aggregator ... so why not create a friend aggregator? After all, you're more likely to enjoy something if your friend likes it, too.
In other words, Facebook has turned the Internet into one giant popularity contest. Just like grade school.
Oh, and by the way, please click our "Like" button at Facebook.com/TucsonWeekly.
THE WEEK ON THE RANGE
On the political beat, we featured reaction to the illegal-immigration bill signed by Gov. Jan Brewer; got reaction regarding the House of Representatives' passage of legislation that would require Obama to show his birth certificate to be on the Arizona ballot in 2012; shared the list of people who want to replace Democrat Rodney Glassman on the Tucson City Council; and let you know that state lawmakers were moving to reverse the cuts to KidsCare and AHCCCS that they made earlier this year.
On the Chow beat, we let you know that Chinese restaurant Harvest Moon, In-N-Out Burger and Keg Steakhouse and Bar were all moving in to Oro Valley Marketplace at Tangerine and Oracle roads; previewed a big crawfish festival at Our Lady of LaVang Parish; and revealed that a new cupcake shop was opening at the Foothills Mall.
We shared photos from the Pima County Fair, while UA journalism students brought us slideshows and interviews with a collection of Tucsonans, including Bill Nugent of The Shanty, Terry Womer of Fairwheel Bikes and Paul Wesner of Sooters Auto Service.
We previewed the Avett Brothers at the Rialto Theatre; Megafaun at Club Congress; and Local Natives at Solar Culture.
In Artistic Range, we featured work by David Kish at the Tucson International Airport and Matthew Yates at the Temple Gallery.
COMMENT OF THE WEEK
"Maybe there are some police officers out there who will start enforcing this uniformly, and asking white people for their proof of citizenship, then hauling them off if they can't produce it. How quickly do you think this will get repealed after a few soccer moms can't get their kids from day care, because they've been taken into police custody because they can't PROVE they're citizens?"
—Maggie Kipling, via Facebook, in response to a post about the governor signing the controversial illegal-immigration bill.
BEST OF WWW
It's border week on TucsonWeeklyTV.com! First up are two clips depicting the permeability of the border. One shows a truckload of illegal immigrants near Interstate 8, and the other shows drug-runners 2 miles south of Interstate 8 and 45 miles south of downtown Phoenix. We've also got a clip from a Douglas-area rancher who caught a thief on camera red-handed (and red-eyed) thanks to his Mace-laced home-security system. Finally, we've got video of last weekend's protest against the illegal-immigration bill that pretty much requires everyone to carry enough documentation with them at all times to prove their citizenship. Fun!
