Plan9: you realize you can delete anything you don't want and untag yourself from photos, right? It's really not that hard to manage your Facebook identity. Granted, having friends who respect that identity does go a long way, and is luckily something I don't have to worry much about.

Yeah, I can delete a perpetual tide of bullshit and monitor every little thing my associates do.

Heh, I don't know about the rest of you, but that's how I like to spend my free time.

Oh well, turns out my friends are generally total douchenozzles on the Intarwebz.

/sarcasm

...

I'm not trying to be a huge Debbie Downer about Facebook, just playing Devil's advocate, really.

Facebook is not for me at this point in my life based on the career choice I've made.

I'm also an uptight bastard that's seen how easy it is to get scroo'd via Intarwebz.

Anybody who's naive about the issues should take an entry level privacy law class.

Anyone who is reasonably tech savvy doesn't have much to worry about. If you're like one of my cousins, on the other hand, who posted last night about how she was surprised to find out Google Chrome keeps a history of every website she ever visits (you know, just like every browser ever), then you're probably not doing all you can or should to use Facebook properly.

What a shame....


I was lucky enough to have joined facebook in time for me to be found by my father's family as he was passing from a horrific 8 month long battle with cancer.

I also have ran into several old friends who I did care to see again and have truly enjoyed reuniting with. I would say that as with anything - you get what you put into it. Many people that are over-the-top FB haters seem to have not evolved beyond their awkward high school existence and therefore find it necessary to announce to the world that they are in fact 'too cool' for FB. Give people the benefit of the doubt....I mean are you the same person you were in high school?

Indeed, I've discovered that I have a TON in common with some people I barely even knew in HS.

This thread has helped me realize that I don't really care for people all that much.

I'm just never going to be a priest, shrink, or talk show host.

Am I on facebook? Yes.

Can you find me on facebook? No.

IF you found me on facebook, could you see my profile, add me, or even message me? No. My friends can't even see my tagged photos, only my profile pics.

I have ~50 friends on facebook, all of which are people I interact with on a regular basis.

I'm glad you said 'many' and not 'all.' Because that would be a huge, steaming load of judgmental donkey crap.

Did you just read what you wrote? It's funny.

...

God forbid they have anything else to do with their time, right? Your self-righteous reverse cool is showing.

for the record, I am, in fact, far too cool for facebook.

learn to compartmentalize the parts you want made public vs those you want private


my public page
Shauk | Facebook

my private page
http://www.facebook.com/Shauk

you're not going to see much besides "page not found" on the 2nd one unless I know you.

People don't find me, I find them, lol.

I just hate facebook and myspace. No real reason, just think they are a huge waste of time and I could less what some douchebag from HS scored on farmville.

There are better places to waste time at than Faceyspacy.

Pft.

You so need to evolve.

I became a fan!

into what exactly? A narcissistic wanna-be who wants everyone to know how important they are by constantly updating status and pictures?

I think I'll stay right where I'm at. thanks.

Gucci, what are you saying? Are you saying that right now you already aren't a "narcissistic wanna-be" already?

I'm a narcissistic BE. not a wanna-be.

:D

How do we separate the narcissistic wannabes from those who simply like to share?

Does that make TFPers narcissistic wannabes?

[/sarcasm]

Generalizations make baby jesus sad.

I think you've confused facebook for twitter.

---------- Post added at 02:14 PM ---------- Previous post was at 02:13 PM ----------



haha, thanks.

awww poor baby!

Okay, so long story short, I ended up joining Facebook and had someone who I knew from high school contact me. I have had NO contact with this person whatsoever for about 7 years, but I heard through friends that she had cancer. Anyways, right off the bat, she posts on my wall and wants to know how I'm doing and such, but the same day, she goes into remission with her cancer. Yeah I know, its sucks and I feel sorry for her, I have a family member going through cancer too and it's tough, but for all I know, she's another sad statistic for cancer, not a person close to me that I would feel empathic for. I haven't responded yet because I don't really know what to say. This was not one of the negatives I foresaw when I was debating whether or not to re-open my profile, but what would you do in my situation?

Facebook profiles capture true personality, according to new psychology research

so in essence, people who hate facebook, hate themselves, or at least, hate the fact that they're no longer really hiding behind a screen persona.

too interesting to not put up the article in case it disappears...

That's an interesting perspective. I think it has inspired me to post a new topic.

That's very interesting, and I suspected as much. Earlier, I wrote a lengthy reply observing how the people who were so adamantly against Facebook shared certain similar qualities while those who were supporting it had another type, but I decided against posting it because I thought it was too raw and potentially hurtful. But I would also guess that those who take Facebook excessively seriously are also hiding behind a certain persona as well. By collecting "friends" I think they are attempting distort their own reality as well, or perhaps display a successful area of their life to make up for other shortcomings.

I don't use Facebook too much. Basically:
1) Easily keep in touch with some of my extended family.
2) Monitor my kids Facebook (yes, I am one of those parents :) )
3) Easy discovery point for friends that I have fallen out of touch with, but would very much like to have contact with again.

The legions of people that I have friended, who now bombard me daily with Farmville, Mafia Wars, and other gaming garbage, are pushing me to the edge. I'm almost at the point where I am going to research unfriending people, and send them a message telling them why I did so.

My Facebook is pretty much a sanitized location. Things that are on there would not alarm a potential employer, nor would they shock my parents or in-laws. I do have a link to my LinkedIn page, where my "corporate face" is hosted.

Moondog: Just click the hide button so you don't see Farmville/Mafia Wars/etc.

I have a hard time understanding all the hate Facebook sometimes gets, because they give users a ton of tools to customize the experience. You don't need to say anything you don't want to see. And they're making it better too: soon, you'll be able to customize who has access to each individual item you post.

I'm a poker addict, and I reckon the Texas HoldEm app on FB is pretty cool.

Hah! That's rich. Where do you get that from?

...

So opting out of a fad that may prove detrimental to your career means that you hate yourself?

Wanting to spend time doing "IRL" things and not VainSpacing it up means you're a crankypants?

This pop science totally leaves out privacy concerns and 236 Facebookers is hardly a useful sample composition and size.

...

I vaguely remember the Internet before the Web and the thing that impressed me the most was anonymity.

Facebook is hardly different from a personnel database that can be searched by FERPA-style directory information.

...

Interesting perspective. I wonder it what it says about kids in third world countries without computers.

/Facebook Debbie Downer

That's a good question. I don't think that Sam Gosling (the author of the study) would make the claim that I don't know how one would get there from reading the study.

The study suggests that people on facebook behave similarly to the way they behave "IRL".

I don't think that privacy concerns matter in the context of the study. It seems to be making claims about people who use facebook, not those that don't because of privacy concerns. Regarding the composition of the sample, Gosling's sample is probably middle/upper-middle class white and hispanic college students. What does the population of facebook users look like?

Exactly. And my whole idiot rant above is directed at Shauk's comment... because it doesn't have backing in the posted text.

Rumor has it black people use Facebook. Children use it. Families use it. Grandparents use it. Dogs use it. Facebook is pretty damn diverse.

My extraction of it simply is that people who are active behind their fake user names and identities must have a preference for the imaginary names vs their real ones because they're still nursing the 90's cloak of anonymity that seems to be the draw of the internet for a lot of people when it comes to their social life supplements.

Just contrasting the people here or anywhere who say they refuse to use facebook because it scares them (paraphased of course)

"omg contact with people I dont know"

"omg my privacy"

or the myriad of other meme reasons in this thread which are based in the "i wish to remain anonymous, yet I choose to remain active here behind my self chosen username, revealing only what I choose to reveal" school of thought

I don't use facebook because it necessarily shows my real name or anything.. I don't use it because it just seems pointless and overly narcissistic for me.. and I'm pretty fucking vain.

people who want to use it..fine..I got no problem with you.. but me choosing not to use it doesn't make me less more or less afraid or more or less cool than people who spring to the newest internet trend.

Shauk, I don't use Facebook because I prefer to have control over which parts of my life various different categories of people see. I'm not aware of any way that Facebook lets me keep any particular "friend" from seeing all my other friends, and frankly, given what I do professionally (as well as certain aspects of my personal life) I'd prefer not to have everyone be able to see everyone. So yes, "OMG my privacy." It's more a question of having control over my life. I'm fortunate to be at an age where I can get away with not being on Facebook if I so choose. So I'm not.

not that you will change your mind, but yes you can set privacy as to who can see your friends list. you can set it to specific names or groups.

I set up a group called no share and put those people that I don't want to share anything with but still have to friend for whatever reason. It's a little more work like setting what group they belong to when I accept their friend request, but it works well.

What cynthetiq said. Facebook's privacy features are actually pretty damn good, and they're only getting better.

Besides agreeing with the posts above, I also do not get their point. I have friends that I am now comfortable sharing anything with. I don't have anyone who has restricted me access to anything and if you have, I will very promptly remove you. There is no point in being my "friend" with the quotes on.

I have a facebook account buy honestly I can't stand it and rarely use it. I guess its mildly amusing to see old friends and acquaintances from high school or college but quite frankly at this point I have the friends I have in real life and just don't care that much for somebody I sort of knew 13 years ago. After a while I just thought whats the point? I see the friends and family I love and cherish on a regular basis, I hear their stories and one line observations, watch their kids grow and look at their photos as they stand beside me and tell me what I'm looking at.

Why then spend time on a page that does little more then update you on people you don't care about while getting littered with results from quizzes and games hold any more value then just mild amusement?

I guess I'm just not much of a fan of social networking sites...it really seems pointless.

Exactly. Although I don't think age is a factor.

Common sense may be, though.