As someone who grows fruit and veg, I like to keep track of what I harvest and I’m upset about wastage. A few berries for the birds is okay but it pains me if I bring something home from the allotment and it then sits around for days or if I keep on putting off a harvest and then the crop goes over and has to be abandoned.

This morning, I was musing about Facebook, which is in the business of harvesting our attention. I might miss out on a few cabbages or beans but they seem profligate with our attention. The attention loss can cost each of us individuals dearly but Facebook seem largely content with having vast fields of it even if most of the crop is left to go to waste.

I’m still a little loathe to give up my Facebook account as there are a few people I know for whom it is the best method to contact them and one or two events which still rely on it for putting up details. Overall though, it has increasingly less charm and even the ambient awareness of friends is becoming harder to come by. When Facebook eventually keels over, I’ll probably miss it less than my old Myspace account.