Some Facebook Ramblings

When I was first introduced to the wonderful world of Facebook, it was an eye-opening experience. I thought it was a great way to keep in touch with friends, one could check up on them, see what they're up to. You could have a peek at your friend's "friends list", see if there might be any surprising mutual friends. You could write a comment on their "wall" for all to see, or send a more private message. It seemed to have all the components of being that one website you could spend 95% of your online time at.

But some time has passed, and now I'm not so sure. What was once a brand-new pair of brilliant white Nike cross-trainers has now become a worn-looking, dingy, dull, old pair of runners.

For one thing, Facebooking is now leaking over into the professional world. For me, I would consider a "friend" a person who I would feel comfortable discussing my private life with, or someone inflatable. I think other people are a little more liberal, that is, they would add co-workers, first time acquaintances, and sometimes people they've never even met. The problem arises when the Facebookers professional peers start to read their idiot friend's wall comment of "Dude, it took me forever to clean up your vomit from the party", or even worse "You still work for the place who has that boss who you say is as smart as a Tuna?"

Facebook is also hugely popular. I think we all know what this means, when a piece of technology gets a huge following. Yep. Hackers. And we're hearing more and more about these vermin, exacting their will on our computers.

There's also a false sense of security, like assuming what you do in a Facebook session is cocooned from the rest of the online world. Take for instance when you install a Facebook "application", do you think this is really done anonymously? Are you sure you aren't handing over your private info?

For me, I'll keep checking in once in a while on my Facebook page. But I'm also going to create a "Linked In" account, which is like the version of Facebook for professionals.

There's nothing wrong with Facebook. I'm still a Facebooker. It's just not cutting edge anymore.