I have often been asked why I’m not on Facebook. The reasons are many, but below are a few Pro-Facebook arguments, my issues with Facebook, and why my anti-Facebook resolve was ultimately broken.
Argument: You can play Scrabulous (or whatever the non-licensed version is now).
Rebuttal: A Scrabble game where you can look up words and take a day to make your move is for THE WEAK.
Argument: You can look up all your old friends that you’ve lost touch with.
Rebuttal: I did that on Friendster, and then I never talked to any of those people. NEXT.
Problem #1: It’s not ubiquitous enough. Until everyone and their grandma is on Facebook, it’s not a reliable means of communication. When people I know send out a Facebook invite, they also end up sending out an email to all their friends that aren’t on Facebook. In that case, why not just Evite? Last week, The Richest Man’s friends sent out a Facebook invite Saturday morning to do something Saturday evening. He didn’t check it and thus missed out on an event he would’ve enjoyed. His reaction: “Why didn’t they just call or text me?” Which leads me to my next point …
Problem #2: It’s impersonal. The Richest Man’s friend’s put their “Hey, let’s hang out” request on Facebook so that all 57 of their “friends” would see it. But that’s the equivalent of a mass email. There’s a time and a place for mass emails, but I know I always prefer a personal request to hang out with a small group of friends. Makes you feel less like a friend-minion in the friend-empire. (Also, half the people I know who say they’re on Facebook say they don’t use it; they just feel obligated to be on because everyone else is. LAME.)
Problem #3: My cluttered life. This is more of a personal problem, really, but sometimes too much media leaves me jittery and numbed, unable to focus on anything that cannot be passively consumed in 20 seconds. Facebook just seems like one more website to check, and why bother when most of my friends have flickr accounts/twitter/blogs/gchat statuses?
The Internet straw that broke my back: I always said that I would join when my lack of Facebook caused me to miss out on things. Via Facebook, my friend Becky invited everyone to meet her for drinks on her day off. I missed out on drinking, folks. This is now serious.
Also, Vicky tells me that there is some word game on Facebook where Keith dominates, and I am pretty sure there is no way he can be better than me. Or more modest. I need to start establishing my word supremacy.
Was I foolish to hold out so long? Can I now be welcomed into the cult of Facebook with no grudges held?
Either way, I welcome my new social-networking overlords!
Anti-Facebook Apology
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
2 comments:
So where are you already?
I am glad you have woken up to the facebook revolution. Now that every one and their mother is on it, it really is the tool for the masses. Honestly it does a decent job trying to bring together many other platforms, such as twitter et. al...
Like you, I was reluctant to sign up at first, however I think that people participate just enough that it is worth coming back to on a regular basis. Also, I like the fact that people seem eager to contribute to facebook, sharing their ideas, even if they are just chopped up sound bites. My Space conversely felt more narcissistic, as you go set up a shrine to yourself and expect people to come see it.
I think that at least until the next big thing comes along, facebook is a worthwhile medium.
Post a Comment