Madness

Disclaimer:  The following is not meant to be a personal attack on anyone who sells stuff, uses stuff, wears stuff, diffuses stuff, or eats food! :)

I am a huge fan of March Madness. The NCAA Basketball Tournament could not come at a better time of year for this Wisconsin girl who is longing for warmer weather! It is great entertainment while I am stuck inside for a few more weeks before spring really springs!

This post is not about March Madness. Rather, it is about another type of behavior, or trend, or fad that seems to be occurring with increased frequency. I've named it Madness because, in my humble opinion, it is!

I have tried to keep up with technology the last ten to fifteen years. After all, I have this blog, I make purchases online, the boards and committees I serve on utilize the internet for communication, and I stay connected to people via Facebook. In the interest of full disclosure, I do not have a twitter account, and I don't use Instagram.

Now for the madness on Facebook. Each time I open my Facebook account, I find more and more people posting about their "passion" which translated means "business." Back in the day, we called these ventures pyramid schemes. Pyramid schemes are illegal in many countries, including the United States. Today, the term used is Multi-Level Marketing or network marketing. Network marketing systems use independent salespeople (distributors) to sell consumer products. Several of my Facebook "friends" are independent salespeople.

Drink these greens, buy this pair of shoes, shop here, use this shampoo, diffuse this essential oil. I've got nothing against spinach, cute shoes, or clean hair. It just begs a couple questions from where I sit. Are the products really as good as the salespeople claim? Just because my neighbor's sister's niece says so, doesn't make it true. And she can refer me to an article touting the benefits of said product which was probably authored by the company that developed the product. I'd feel better about considering using a product if the referral came from an independent reviewer, thank you very much.

Would there be as many independent salespeople peddling consumer products if they had to actually leave the comfortable confines of their homes to sell? Let's face it, it is much easier to sit at a computer, create and then post a clever "ad" asking "friends" to consider purchasing an item than it is to go door to door in March in Wisconsin! It seems safe to conclude that one of the reasons network marketing has blossomed in recent years is because of the ease of access to consumers provided by social media platforms. Again, is the product that good or is it just able to be marketed with less difficulty?

Although there is more I could write here, I'll close with this thought. Probably the only way for me to stop the Facebook "madness" is to spend less time on Facebook. Thanks to Lent, that is something I have already begun to do. Less time online has given me more time to read and to write, two activities I really enjoy. I'm off to watch a little college basketball. That's a madness I'll consume!