Torn

I belong to two "networking sites" at the moment - Twitter and LinkedIn. I always liked the idea of keeping in touch with old friends, daily friends, and any one else out there over these sites and in the past I have belonged to Friendster, Myspace, and Facebook. One of the main reasons I joined them was to promote music and upcoming events and shows. I think for self promotion these sites are a great avenue to explore. I think the positives out weigh the negatives for most people using these sites, but for me I think I'm over it. Other than using the sites for promotion, I can't get into sharing my personal life with the world. Maybe I'm paranoid. Ha.

I feel that LinkedIn is a good tool, especially for me as a freelance designer, for business promotions and prospects. If I see a job out there, you can pretty much find the hiring manager on linkedin and send them your material. Twitter is cool because it bridges gaps between myself and other musicians. I get a lot of free music and find out about cool collaborations that certain acts are doing that I like. I feel like you can tailor that experience to suit your needs... It's almost like a news feed of your interests.

I read and skimmed a few articles on Facebook and social networking sites and the consensus is that they are good. They are a positive way to stay in touch with people and make being online that much more enjoyable. Maybe I'll get over it one day and join, but for now I think I'll stay off the popular air waves of facebook.

Interesting article:
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/15/magazine/15wwln-lede-t.html