I'm in a Facebook minority. And by that I mean I'm not on Facebook. Not participating in such a powerful and ubiquitous social community may seem sacrilege for a person whose bread and butter is online media. There's a variety of reasons I have yet to sign up. Apart from getting along fine without it for 34 years, I have precious little free time for another distraction. But that's only part of the story, I don't have a lot of interest in social networking and I'm cautious about the dangers that come with publishing my thoughts to even a controlled group of friends and acquaintances. I also wonder, does it even really enhance our friendships? Here's a quote from an article about Facebook that is aligned with my point of view, "does Facebook really connect people? Doesn't it rather disconnect us, since instead of doing something enjoyable such as talking and eating and dancing and drinking with my friends, I am merely sending them little ungrammatical notes and amusing photos in cyberspace, while chained to my desk?" (1)
Four years ago I had a mySpace page. For a time, one I'm not proud of, I labored over the construction of a carefully edited persona. As if that waste of time wasn't bad enough, I was soon being contacted by people I never wanted to hear from again. Which was ultimately the reason I abandoned my mySpace page. That and the usability nightmare that made up the mySpace experience. The trauma of mySpace may have sparked my aversion to Facebook. But the more I've read about Facebook the more apprehensive I've become.
The blurry lines around privacy, the new-ness of laws regarding social networking and how publishing our opinions can impact our personal lives and careers has been a consistent theme in the Facebook stories I've read. I think that most people use social networking responsibly, but someone else's overshare could produce unexpected negative consequences. We can control what we say, but not what others are screen-capturing from our private comments and sharing with people we never want seeing them. Concerns about initiatives like Beacon and sudden changes to Terms of Service haven't helped matters either. While public outrage has undone these initiatives they have deepened my skepticism. Issues remain such as how Facebook mines quiz takers personal information and that of their friends. Extracting personal data such as politics, religion and sexuality. It's unclear how this data is used, most likely it's for sold to advertisers and marketers for targeted campaigns. However how do you know who is getting their hands on it and what they're using if for? (2)
While I'm of the belief that Facebook is not for me. I'm not opposed to social networking. I'm on LinkedIn, which demands little of my time and has served my career in positive ways. I'm not even really a detractor of Facebook. Used responsibly, I don't believe it does any more harm than people would otherwise encounter in their social lives.
Often the thought occurs to me, if everyone else is doing it and I'm not, perhaps my choice to not participate in Facebook will deny me opportunities that, in the future, I'll regret missing out on.
1. With friends like these ...
Retrieved October 18, 2009 from The Guardian UK
http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2008/jan/14/facebook
2. Facebook knows too much, ACLU says in warning of quizzes
Retrieved October 18, 2009 from PHYSORG.com
http://www.physorg.com/news170614271.html
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