Facebook

February 4.  On this day in 2004, Mark Zuckerberg , started this “thing” called Facebook while he was a student at Harvard.  Kind of a clever little idea.  And boy oh boy, humans really seem to like it.  I checked some info about Facebook, and here are some interesting stats- but keep in mind that these stats will probably change by the time you read them:

·      There are more Facebook users from the US than US citizens who voted in the last election.  (Given the current state of the upcoming election with some of the crazy candidates, this stat will probably remain the same).

·      Facebook has over 1.038 billion active daily users. 1.039….1.040….

·      More 350 million photos are uploaded daily.  (250 million are pup-arazzi shots taken by my human of me, Paxton and Frodo).

·      The average time a human spends on Facebook each day is 21 minutes. (I THINK our human MAY actually go above that stat…)

·      The average Facebook user has 130 friends. Personally, I have over 150 “likes” so when I saw that stat, I thought of myself as above average.  And I was pretty excited.  But then I found some OTHER dogs who have Facebook pages, and I became QUITE depressed.  Boo, a Pomeranian, has 16 MILLION “likes.”  16 MILLION.   OK.  So he IS cute.  Beast, a Puli has 2 million “likes.”  BUT – his human is Mark Zuckerberg.  So I think those stats may be inflated a bit.  Jiff, ANOTHER Pomeranian – has 1.3 million “likes.”  What is it with these Pomeranians?????????  PONS are JUST as cute!  And have you SEEN a Bernese puppy?!  Anyway, there are some pugs and a French Bulldog who have 900,000+ “likes” and a talking husky who has over 600,000 “likes.”  Hey - Frodo can talk!!  OK, I can understand the two legged pit bull who has over 300,000 and the Senior Dogs site with over 200,000.  But a Labrador who has a guilty look when he gets in trouble?  With over 175,000 “likes?”  Come on.  I have a guilty look almost every day!!!!!  What does one have to do to get their stats up?  Run for President?  Oh WAIT – I want people to LIKE me…

But besides entertainment and making friends, Facebook CAN be a place for news and education.  Here are some pages that dog owners may find interesting if you are a Facebook user:

The American Veterinary Medicine Association page – lots of info and material here about pet health.

Nova Scotia’s own Rodney Habib – Pet Nutrition Blogger.  Rodney is a SUPER bright guy who knows a LOT about Pet Nutrition!  Check him out!

A place to find the perfect pet sitter- Dog Vacay.  We already HAVE the perfect sitter – but for those who are looking – it might provide some options.

Another health and wellness page for pets- PetMD.

A GREAT page with old dog photos is Vintage Dog a Day.  It’s cool to see how breeds USED to look. 

And a page about the American Museum of the Dog – which is on my human’s Bucket list!

Of course there are probably hundreds of pages for different breeds, clubs, shows….you name it.  And another very cool thing about Facebook are those pages that help to place rescue dogs and the pages for LOST dogs.  I know of several cases in Nova Scotia where people quickly came together to help in finding a lost dog when the info was posted on Facebook.  My human actually envisioned my picture on that page one day – but as you may recall, I came home on my own. And I was ONLY gone…..well…..long enough to make her think about it.

And then we have all the businesses related to dogs – everything from food companies to the dreaded dog apparel companies.  The words “Follow us on Facebook” are heard ALL the time.

I think, Facebook brings the world together.  And it CAN be a good thing. But also keep in mind that not EVERYTHING you read on Facebook is TRUE.  Nothing drives my human more crazy than when people forward things that are made up.  Facebook can innocently spread bad things around – like accidentally stepping in dog poo and not noticing until you come in the house.  BE careful.  Check the facts.

 

I know also know there ARE people who do not use it…hard to believe – but there ARE!!!  But given the cautions- I think of what they are missing.  In fact, if it weren’t for Facebook, many of you probably wouldn’t be reading about the unusual adventures of a Polish Lowland Sheepdog in Nova Scotia, Canada, now would you?!

So Mr. Zuckerberg, even though your dog has more “likes” than I do, I think I’ll still keep using your site.  Until I can come up with a better idea….because after all, I AM a PON!

©  Linda Wozniak