To Own or to Be Owned?

When my girls ask their friends “Do you have Facebook?” I joke and ask them “Wouldn’t it be grammatically more correct to ask whether Facebook has them?” — then they smile politely but usually don’t go so far as to chuckle.

The same can be said for most technology — whether hardware or software, there is almost always a “make or buy” decision. And buying into a platform usually means submitting to the constraints of that technology.

What I find particularly odd, though, is the degree to which these two extremes seem to make up the entire spectrum — there is apparently nothing in between these two polar opposites!

When I navigate to many sites on the web which are essentially not indexed by Google (I have a feeling the vast majority of sites actually never show up in Google’s so-called “search engine”), I sometimes come across sites with messages along the lines of “please help us to make this site better“, and yet even though this is clearly stated, I almost never find people who seem to be willing to contribute in any meaningful way.

I wonder why people are so eager to become Facebook’s or Google’s bitch, yet are so unwilling to even just lift a finger for any random, relatively unknown site. I have a hunch there is some kind of psychological error that happens, along the lines of “if I participate on this site, then I will become a co-owner“.

If that is the case for you, then I’m sorry to pop your bubble: Either you have the wrong idea, or you have the wrong website.