To Like or not to Like? Farewell Facebook.

As appears to be the case with many people, I am concerned about the threat to privacy that Facebook's "instant personalization" gambit will pose, and accordingly I recently joined a Facebook group titled "Leave Facebook Day" and another called "Petition: Facebook Respect my Privacy": http://www.eweekeurope.co.uk/news/critics-hit-out-at-facebook-instant-personalisation-6796 Actually I didn't quite join these groups - I "liked" them, which is what one now seems to be encouraged to do by FB. Apparently the increasingly ubiquitous "liking" has become a synonym for "joining" or "supporting" and, harmless though it may seem, I rather suspect that if this  banalisation of language is any indicator we are heading towards a semantic shift that cuts to the heart of the vocabulary of democracy itself. Imagine if, one day, voting becomes "liking"? Or, in the parlance of another social networking site, You Tube, "favouriting". Who will you "like" in the next election? Which candidate or party will you "favourite" (and how will this selecting be done; who will have access to your choices)? Well, to be honest I rarely "like" any of the political talent on offer (although I might be persuaded sufficiently by their policies to think them better than the other options available) and, old fashioned girl that I am, tend to think of "favourites" as a code word for the mistresses or pet politicians of 17th century monarchs (I heart Nell Gwyn). Selecting a government to run a country is not the same thing as putting five stars against your favourite rock band or, for that matter, choosing a playdate you "like" for your Super-Poke pet. Speaking of which, I'm afraid my Super-Poke pet Arthur has probably died of neglect by now (or, poor love, been buried in his own virtual excrement). And, unless Facebook changes its views on selling our privacy up excrement creek, my account may suffer a swifter and more definite demise.