No, I'm NOT on F-ing Facebook!
“So, are you on Facebook…”, “Hey, friend me on Facebook…”, “You know, you should get on Facebook account…”
Yes, I’ve heard them all. And no, I’m not on Facebook. Not only am I not on Facebook, I have don't have any intention of ever getting on there. And of course, the million dollar question is: why?
I have my reasons, OK. First, there is a certain amount of privacy that I would like to maintain. There are certain elements in my life that would love to use Facebook to meddle in my affairs. That alone is enough for me.
However, I also feel a bit burned by social networking. A couple of years ago, I jumped on the MySpace train, just as it was leaving the station. Unbeknownst to me, it was headed to Oblivion, a long way from my intended destination of Popularity City. I still go on there, dodging malware and spyware to communicate with a small handful of survivors.
But, the irony is that the people I stay in touch with there have always stayed in touch with me. They even use such archaic 20th century methods as the telephone to do that.
So if I go to Facebook, then what? A year from now another social network will take over from that. So, like a virtual nomad on the electronic landscape, I’ll have to pick up, pack up and follow the Internet herd to another home. I’ll need to set up another set of passwords, try to keep the friends I made and hope I can make some new ones. I’m sorry, but I guess I’m too old for all of that.
Besides, if someone REALLY wanted to keep in touch with me, they could do it. I have a home phone, cell phone, an office phone, a personal website, a website and a Twitter account (I’m not a total Luddite) for my weekly radio show, a website for the books I have written, three ignored MySpace sites, and several other social networking sites that I joined and rarely use, and of course the stone age snail mail of the post office. That being said, I’m not hard to find. God knows, bill collectors seem to be able to.
With that in mind, I’ve come up with a new slogan for Facebook:
“Facebook…another way to be ignored.”
Yes, I’ve heard them all. And no, I’m not on Facebook. Not only am I not on Facebook, I have don't have any intention of ever getting on there. And of course, the million dollar question is: why?
I have my reasons, OK. First, there is a certain amount of privacy that I would like to maintain. There are certain elements in my life that would love to use Facebook to meddle in my affairs. That alone is enough for me.
However, I also feel a bit burned by social networking. A couple of years ago, I jumped on the MySpace train, just as it was leaving the station. Unbeknownst to me, it was headed to Oblivion, a long way from my intended destination of Popularity City. I still go on there, dodging malware and spyware to communicate with a small handful of survivors.
But, the irony is that the people I stay in touch with there have always stayed in touch with me. They even use such archaic 20th century methods as the telephone to do that.
So if I go to Facebook, then what? A year from now another social network will take over from that. So, like a virtual nomad on the electronic landscape, I’ll have to pick up, pack up and follow the Internet herd to another home. I’ll need to set up another set of passwords, try to keep the friends I made and hope I can make some new ones. I’m sorry, but I guess I’m too old for all of that.
Besides, if someone REALLY wanted to keep in touch with me, they could do it. I have a home phone, cell phone, an office phone, a personal website, a website and a Twitter account (I’m not a total Luddite) for my weekly radio show, a website for the books I have written, three ignored MySpace sites, and several other social networking sites that I joined and rarely use, and of course the stone age snail mail of the post office. That being said, I’m not hard to find. God knows, bill collectors seem to be able to.
With that in mind, I’ve come up with a new slogan for Facebook:
“Facebook…another way to be ignored.”