h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

"For my own part, I am going to retreat from the whole thing, remain as unplugged as possible, and spend the time I save by not going on Facebook doing something useful, such as reading books.
Why would I want to waste my time on Facebook when I still haven't read Keats' Endymion?
And when there are seeds to be sown in my own back yard?
I don't want to retreat from nature, I want to reconnect with it.
Damn air-conditioning!
And if I want to connect with the people around me, I will revert to an old piece of technology.
It's free, it's easy and it delivers a uniquely individual experience in sharing information: it's called talking."

http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2008/jan/14/facebook

~~~

Someone invited me, and I think I've an account, which I never used.



And never will

no good looking for you on there then

Talking is good if you have people to talk to.

My New Year resolution is to get out more, find some RL friends as opposed to electronic ones.

Have you checked your PO Box lately, Tal?

must say I don't bother with it all. I am on LinkedIn, but that's work and not social really (I guess for some it is both but I like to keep the two separate).

Plus it seems as much a tool for getting back in contact with people - whereas for me those I wanted to stay in contact with I did. Same reason I never went on friends reunited.

Oh, and a pet peeve. People who make announcements via facebook but don't bother to phone you up or email or even come round and see you. I had friends who I see once or twice a year who've got married and had a kid but never said anything. Apparently it was all announced on facebook. Maybe I'm just old fashioned but things like that I'd want to tell people at least on the phone if not face to face.

I seriously do not know why I'm still on facebook. I joined up a few months ago and it has given me every reason to quit it. It proved my suspicions by being little more than a tool for ego masturbation. It also reminded me of the dangers of computing when you're "tired and emotional" . And as bad as its privacy policies were when I joined, they've gotten so bad now their being sued by privacy advocates and even the creator of the site was a bit embarrassed by some picks that his system suddenly made public to "everyone".

I've only "reconnected" with a few old friends from school, but I don't think any have actually shared any words with me (nor I with them).

OK... That's it. Thanks for the inspiring thoughts. Come the new year, I'll have my account deleted*.

*not a straightforward task, once they get you they don't want to let go even if you leave.

I only use it for stalking purposes.

Oh, well then, you must like the new policies.
http://www.blogher.com/facebook-stalking-my-birth-son

actually, I think facebook is stupid. I signed up offering the minimum of information with the single purpose of contacting the owner of one of my paintings. I hadn't seen him or it in twenty years and I was hoping to have him send me a photo of the thing, as I had none. Apart from that, the account has been pretty much inactive.

I use it to find out what's going on with my (much younger) co-workers. That and my daughters. And my high school reunion people (never been, never will but I like to see what they turned into). And an old friend or two. And work related pages ("Overheard in the Control Room") which are extremely comedic and realistic at the same time. But I loathe the format and fluff.

So I guess I use it....but I hate it.

Now there's an example of something:

if I want to 'connect' with clzoomer, my first choice will be to post something to his hootoo message space. If it's something more private, I'll send him an email. He's on my friend list on Facebook, but given these other routes of contact, why would I bother using Facebook to contact him, or vice versa?

Absolutely, I whole heartedly agree. I don't think Facebook is for communication, I think it's a log of existence combined with mind-numbingly banal 'things to do'.

But- My daughter posted her wedding pictures on FB before she printed me copies. My co-workers posted what was going on in another wing of the building before it was gossip in the caf. Several old friends 'found' me. Silly crap like that but I still lurk just to be part of the process I guess.

I can't stand the 'friend' recommendations, the games, the farms and aquariums and mafia- so I ignore them. The format sucks and the company is mostly 'pants' but it's the only form of contact (weird as it is) I have with some people.

Facebook, at its core, is sophisticated spam! You may think you're ignoring all those games and quizzes, all that mafia/farmquarium folderol but they're not ignoring you. If any friend "accepts" an application that gives it "permission" to access the info of all of that friend's friends. In other words, whatever information you've made available to a friend, you've also made available to every application that friend has used. And most of the apps on facebook are designed for target marketing. That's what facebook sells... you. You are the product that it sells to advertisers.

and here's another reason not to live your life on facebook and have it all recorded:


'A New Brunswick judge has ordered a Miramichi woman to reveal how often she uses the social-networking website Facebook to a man she's suing after a 2004 car crash.

Rosemary Carter is fighting Herbert Connors for damages after the two were involved in a collision in the northern New Brunswick community five years ago.

In her lawsuit, Carter has said she hasn't been able to return to work full-time as an administrative clerk at the Miramichi Hospital.

During the discovery process, when each side in the dispute asks for evidence, Conners' lawyer asked Carter to turn over her internet records from Bell Aliant and specifically to disclose her Facebook activity.'

http://www.cbc.ca/canada/new-brunswick/story/2009/12/23/nb-facebook-miramichi-accident-judge-552.html

cyber sex is bad for your eye

How do I hate thee, Facebook? Let me count the ways ...

Well okay, I admit that I'm pretty much a cyber slut, with multiple blogs & email accounts, as well as being a member of many different online forums and having various accounts on Twitter, Posterous, YouTube, LinkedIn, and so on.

And yes, I also have two Facebook accounts. This is how I know that Facebook totally SUCKS. Because I use so many other social media formats that actually work well. Facebook does not work well. It sucks. Totally.

I keep the Facebook accounts going (though seldom visit them) because I'm told that, especially for business, it's a valuable social media tool. I disagree, but for now I'll keep them up (just in case) because I can update there via Twitter with no extra hassle or work.

Oh yeah, and I also belong to this place called h2g2 ... which for a few years was my one and only cyber-home. But it got to feeling a bit limited for my own personal needs, so I started a blog back in May 2006 and the rest, as they say, is history. I still visit here from time to time, but not like before. And several hootooers have ended up visiting my main personal blog called "casa az". http://azahar.wordpress.com/

Would be nice if more of you dropped by ...

az

Shameless proselytizing, az.

I think I know what attracts me- if you are a FB member, check out *Overheard in the Control Room*. It's an endless stream of comments from television production intercoms all over the world. I can relate.

That and countless friends I haven't run into for years, sometimes decades. Works for me.

Heh, wait till I start promoting my forum...

az

Heh, facebook doesn't like it when people leave, at least when they don't use their approved methods.

http://www.networkworld.com/community/node/49470

although I truly think that Facebook is a useless time waster, sometimes it just might do something which might be worthwhile: F19585?thread=252800&post=90734803#p90734803 (not the bit about Wiebo Ludwig)