Facebook or Social Media is a very common theme. Yet it is one subject that people are instantly drawn to. So how do you take such a common theme and yet shed some new light on it.
Here is a script that does just that. Its funny, though provoking and shares some innovative ideas that would definitely bring smile in your audience’s face. Have a read.
Are you addicted to Facebook?
A famous ancient English proverb says “An idle mind is a devil’s workshop.” By the end of today’s session, my goal is to convince you that this ancient English proverb is no longer true.
For now, let’s focus on our theme.
Facebook has been one of the most controversial developments of the last decade. While it’s true that it has helped the entire world connect better, it has also been blamed for privacy issues, fake news and a lot more. Mark Zuckerburg likes to say that Facebook is free, but it is well known now that “when you are not paying for the product, you are the product.” That is how Facebook earns profit – by showing you ads. This is in contrast to other free products available like Firefox – the free browser and Wikipedia – the free online encyclopedia, both of which are nonprofit originations like Toastmasters. Firefox for instance works to make internet more accessible and therefore like Facebook does not sell your data even though it can collect it when you browse through it. This is the reason why both Firefox and Wikipedia are not very user friendly – as they do not earn profit to hire highly paid engineers to make their free tools better
Facebook on the other hand works with the single minded purpose of earning more profit by showing ads. It is important for Facebook that you spend more time on it. The explosion of apps has been a boon for Facebook. Now users can log in to Facebook even more easily. Over the years, Facebook has made it easier to log in. Initially, you had to enter both username and password, than only the password as your username was saved, than they replaced it with a four digit code and today you are logged into the app 24×7. No wonder, we are all addicted to it.
Before we move ahead, let me tell you how a Toastmaster meeting functions. A Toastmaster’s meeting is divided into three parts. The first part consists of prepared speeches where members prepare in advance for a 5 to 7 minute speech, get it mentored and deliver the same. The second part is the fun filled Table Topic session where anyone from the audience can come up and give a 1 to 2 minute speech on a topic given by the Table Topic Master. And the third part is the most important evaluation section where our GE or General Evaluator for the day will give a report on the entire meeting today. Having said that let me invite on the stage our GE for the day – TM Name. Can we have a big round of applause everyone please?
After the General Evaluator is done explaining his role, you may kick start the first session by inviting the prepared speakers. Once all the prepared speakers are over, continue with the theme.
Here is a common scene that you may relate as well. I am working on something when suddenly my WhatsApp notification pings. I check and find a funny meme. So I share it on Facebook along with a caption that I think makes my look intelligent. I try to get back to my work when my phone rings. It’s a call that’s unavoidable – my wife’s. “Please get my medicine on your way back home. Also, your Facebook post is stupid.” This makes me worried. So I open my Facebook again only to find there are no likes on my post. I check it thrice over the next five minutes and still no likes. I begin wondering if my post is not funny enough or may be the caption was not intelligent. After much anxiety I delete my post. All this while my work is still pending. Because let’s face the truth, we are all addicted to Facebook.
Since we are busy doing this mind numbing activity, we don’t have the idle time to indulge in some constructive thoughts. If you have a problem to solve, you have to keep your mind free so that you can think about the problem. Facebook is the devil’s workshop that prevents your mind from getting idle to work on your problems. So what do we do about it. I have an amazing solution but before that let’s start our amazing Table Topic Session. Please help me welcome TM Name.
Once the Table Topic Session is over, you may get back to the theme.
So what is the amazing solution? Now I am a rational person. And I do not suggest the irrational idea of deleting our Facebook accounts. So let me present to you my most rational solution – “Facebook through Firefox” Here is how it works. Let us all delete our Facebook app from our mobile and download the Firefox app instead. Every time we wish to check our Facebook account, we have to enter the website address www.facebook.com in Firefox and then manually enter our username and password. We can than access our Facebook page in a browser that is not as addictive as Facebook – thus reducing our overall Facebook using experience. This will discourage us from repeatedly checking our Facebook account.
I would now like to invite our General Evaluator for the final session of the day. A big round of applause for TM Name.
Once the General Evaluator session is over, you can conclude the theme as follows.
“Facebook through Firefox” also has a side benefit. It will make Firefox a little more popular browser. This will help the nonprofit organization earn more money so that they can hire better engineers and make internet even more accessible. It’s a win-win.
So here is my request to you. If not for Firefox, implement “Facebook through Firefox” for your and your family’s sake. It will give you idle time that you can use to solve your problems, help your kids solve their math problems and in the process make this world a little better place to live in.
Did that bring a smile to your face too? Let us know in your comments.
To check out more ideas for TMOD theme and scripts, look here.
My Meeting Roles 