I’ve been subject to a number of clever ploys from clever people trying to get me to register on Facebook. I’ve been teased by Doc, tantalized by Honu Girl, and harangued (in a fun way) by Skillzy. I’ve also been wheedled by coworkers. My supervisor recommended I join in the same tone he’d use to recommend a really tasty cheese. I was ranted at and belittled by some family-of-family for my objection to Facebook’s terms of service, which made such news last week and apparently finally got people talking about rights to personal property in created electronic community spaces. I was encouraged very nicely to join by a casual friend who is (probably) terminally ill.
I haven’t really heard anything that makes me want to use Facebook. In fact, I’ve heard that Twitter is just like “The Wall” on Facebook (which I gather is mostly what people like to read) without all the other nonsense. I’m not sure what all the other nonsense is, though. I’m pretty sure I don’t care to spend any time talking to people I went to high school with. I’m vaguely interested in networking possibilities, but Twitter would seem to do there. Does it have exclusive content of any kind? If you’re very much into Facebook, what’s your number one reason for that?
Several of the people I love best in the world haven’t convinced me to join. Neither has the spectre of missing out on a few last bit of communication with someone who is dying. And being pubicly humiliated by people who think that spending most of your time on the internet makes you stupid did the most to entrench me in the anti-Facebook camp.
Is it really something that must be done? The same essay that said, “Just use Twitter” was followed by a comment that said, roughly, “Facebook is the new telephone and everybody that doesn’t get on board is going to get left so far behind.”
If I do join, it will require a huge overhaul of my entire web presence. Worth it?
[...] everybody say “Hiiiii, Kira!” Y’all, if you get the opportunity to hang out with Kira, do so. It is [...]
I used FB because I fucking hate myspace. And that’s pretty much it.
I am with you on that. And, I mainly use FB as an adjunct to twitter – allowing it to crosspost my updates. I check out other people’s statuses, too, and occasionally waste my time on some of the games, but I try not to.
I don’t think it would require a huge overhaul of your web presence, really, but if you’re happy without it, I won’t bug you about it :D
Frankly, beyond stalking people to see whats up in their lives and a bit of back and forth with friends who you don’t see much, there is no point to facebook. Since I like stalking people and the occasional low-impact interaction with people I rarely see, facebook is the perfect answer to those (mildly immature and kinda introvert-tastic) desires. I refuse to friend strangers, people I hate enough to not want to stalk, and my mother.
Now Twitter, Twitter I do not understand… I think I unjoined that. =P
And, um, hi-awesome-person-I-have-met-once! Your blog popped up when I was looking for something else in my history (thanks to Poptart of course), and I for some reason felt the irresistible urge to reply to this entry… ^_^
Hey! Look everybody. It’s the elusive Kira. Let’s all stare and make her nervous… :D
It’s getting off track, because it really has nothing to do with facebook, but when has staying on topic ever stopped me? I like to think that as the most frequent commenter, I get some leeway.
Anyway, Kira is interesting, and elusive, in the same way that Christopher is. I know a ridiculous amount about the both of them, considering that I have never spoken, or typed, to either of them. And as with Christopher and Sarah, anyone that Poptart is sweet on starts with high marks in my book. So, “Hi Kira.” Don’t be a stranger. Or, be a stranger, but know that Poptart and I are talking about you. :D
Wait, wait, wait, there is staring *and* talking behind my back? Clearly I should be paranoid! :P
Sounds like Doc needs a good stalking, right?
You’ve been given some excellent responses already, but I’ll chime in. My feelings are sort of the opposite of yours… I recently joined Twitter, but keep finding myself thinking, “what’s the point?” I’m trying to give it time, though, because I’ve heard wonderful great things about the value of the medium.
Facebook isn’t that big a deal. It’s way less annoying than MySpace, by leaps and bounds. I actually enjoy it. I do dislike the apps invitations, but most of the worst ones are on ignore now, so problem solved.
I have found two long lost friends through FB. A few years back, I lost all contact with *everybody* that wasn’t in my inner circle, and this has helped me rebuild some of those connections. And my best friend from 3rd grade found me, which might not be a big deal for some people, but it was for me. In fact, for that reason, I usually accept requests from my old schoolmates, but toggle on the “hear less about X” option if I don’t want to hear about them. Very few people I know in an offline capacity have twitter accounts. Many of them do have FaceBook accounts.
I’m also confused on the “huge overhaul” comment, and perhaps that is enough to tell you to stay away. If you are currently in touch with everyone you want to be in touch with, particularly, then it will not have the value it does for me.
Where can I find the “hear less about X” option? I’ve heard about it, but I’ve never located it. I’d love to employ it on a few people.
On the right hand side of any update, when you run your mouse over it, a pencil icon with Options comes up. It’s under there.
I finally set up an account on Facebook after resisting for a long time. Facebook is becoming the new de facto method of promoting anything musical, and I have both my music and a music podcast to shamelessly pimp out to the world, so I couldn’t just continue to ignore Facebook and hope it went away.
It isn’t as annoying to set up and use as I thought it would be, and the software is much better than MySpace in a number of ways. One thing I like is the ability to just ignore all the stupid apps. That being said, I don’t see a whole bunch of utility in any of it, provided you already have a satisfactory network via Twitter or email (or one of those “blog” things I keep hearing about).
I hate Facebook. I forced to join for a class (being as I was threatened with a grade drop if I didn’t). The only thing I’ve found it useful for is getting people’s phone numbers now that I no longer have a cell phone. That’s not impossible to do without Facebook, so really I don’t care either way.
I’d drop it completely, but the mess it would cause amongst the people I know that love the damn thing isn’t worth it. As it stands, I update it once every six months.
It’s like a disease for the internet.
I don’t think it’s necessary for you to be on Facebook. I am, but I rarely use it. Although, much like twitter, if you did join Facebook, I would probably actually use it more. I’m funny like that.
I like it for the ability to chat and that people can post pictures. It’s also a pretty easy way for me to keep in touch with all my college friends even tough they’re miles away. I honestly don’t use the wall function that often. It’s also a good way to find out about stuff going on in your area and keep posted about things you’re a fan of. I think it’s worth joining. It doesn’t necessitate much upkeep and you can enter as much or as little information about yourself as you’d like (from what I understand).
Just curious: why would joining Facebook require a huge overhaul of your entire web presence?
So that’s why I can never find you when I search for you on there!
I joined Facebook because we were asked to do so at work (seriously). I did it, but I was hesitant to embrace the system. After all, I already had a MySpace page, and I was convinced that it was sufficient.
A year later, I love Facebook.
As far as long-lost acquaintances… meh. I’ve gotten in touch with a few old friends with it, but more often I get requests from people I don’t remember. I don’t see the point in befriending people I don’t know on Facebook — in MySpace, fine, but Facebook is about what your friends are doing, and I don’t care what people I don’t know are doing.
As for the barrage of app request and other such nonsense, I very rarely accept them. Again, this isn’t MySpace. I don’t want a bunch of garbage info to sort though. I’ve joined a few groups and fan pages — those for which I have genuine interest and actually want to receive updates.
What I love about Facebook is exactly what I loved about MySpace when I first joined — it combines a number of applications that I’m already using elsewhere and ties them all together in one neat spot. If I post new photos to Flickr, a note pops into my Facebook page. If I tweet something (which I don’t), that pops in there too. If I write something in my blog, a link gets added to my Facebook page. It’s a very useful aggregator — it just depends on how you use it. I’m sure there are plenty of people out there with 1,400 “friends,” 350 fan pages, and Pieces of Flair out the ass who can’t possibly keep up with what’s going on.
Whereas MySpace, though, is focused on *you*, Facebook is focused on your friends. You look at a single page to see what all of them are up to (like Twitter). It’s far better about real people using the system instead of organizations or businesses (though a few slip through (and I won’t befriend them)).
It all comes down to who your friends are and how you (and they) use the system. If someone on my friends list continually posts updates like “I’m taking my dog for a walk… I’m calling my mom… I’m picking my nose…,” I drop them from my list. I don’t want to follow that (again, just like twitter). But it’s my choice who I leave on my list, so I get updates from people I really know — I’m interested in what they’re doing, and they post useful or entertaining stuff.
That said, if you’re happy without it, skip it. I’m still without a cell phone — not to make a statement, but simply because I don’t need one.
Although I am on Facebook I would say stay away. That is unless you want constant messages asking you to join a bunch of useless groups or applications. I rarely go there. I just feed it my twitter updates and blog posts so it looks like the content is updated. Generally I ignore everything else.