Facebook - what's your take?

[daffodil]

Another non-FB'er here, too.

I've considered joing up but never seem to have the time so I guess it would be the same in keeping it updated! Email, msn, sms - and the regular telephone of course - don't think I could cope with another thing to manage

But as someone else said, horses for course and all.

[Satellite]

Well.. I joined because I kept receiving invitations. But I have not put up any data on myself or pictures... and I most likely won't.

I do receive nice surprises from long lost friends sometimes and I can see that it is handy for some of my friends residing overseas to keep in touch without too much admin because I know it can be very time consuming to email picutres to everyone. (eg putting up pictures there etc - you actually can restrict the viewship of the pictures but I don't know how to).

All you really need are some close friends and they will be the ones sending you personal emails... the rest are acquaintances who will do this facebook thing so when you feel like updating yourself on their lives, you can do so by looking them up. That's what I do.

[Pinklepurr]

I'm not on there either but like Lili have pressure to join if I want to keep in touch with several people who don't communicate in any other way, so I may soon be there as well.

For example my stepson will not email, he has not sent one email or photo etc in the 7 or so years we have been away, never replies to ours (not even his little brothers) etc. His reply is always to check him out on facebook, (used to be myspace etc etc, no doubt it will change again if it hasn't already).

The friends bit always gets to me as well, sad if you don't have many, sadder if you have 1000's I think. I think K hit it too, what if you don't include someone (perhaps unintentionally) and they think you don't like them? Argh...it is worse than being back at school.

[Kooky]

I should add that BB and I rabbit away on IM almost every day - which is my much preferred method of staying in touch with people in far-flung places. Well that and actually speaking out loud.

[Satellite]

what if you don't include someone (perhaps unintentionally) and they think you don't like them? Argh...it is worse than being back at school.

Why do you have to worry about all that? I don't sent out invites - if they want, they can add me and I'd add them in turn.

[Scrummy Mummy]

I'm not on it. Can't be arsed really. (Or "assed" if you prefer ). Like Kooky, I tried the whole Friends Reunited thing, but after you've caught up with "what have you been doing for X years" there's not much to say.

I keep wondering whether I should, but then my brother-in-law was insistent at Xmas that I'd be on it within 3 months, so certainly not before the end of March.

[Bender]

Make friends, get rich? Some aspects of this ring true. But what defines a 'friend' nowadays?

[expat yorkshire]

Now scummy if had a pound for everything you said you would never ever do and ended up doing I would be a rich man ..... Well maybe about 20 quid

[Fat Bob]

I'm not on it. Can't be arsed really. (Or "assed" if you prefer ). Like Kooky, I tried the whole Friends Reunited thing, but after you've caught up with "what have you been doing for X years" there's not much to say.

Hmmm...there's always a chance to catch up with that chick that "got away" whilst you were in 6th form

[Scrummy Mummy]

True enough.

Although I seem to remember you saying you'd never get a car?

[Scrummy Mummy]

I'm not on it. Can't be arsed really. (Or "assed" if you prefer ). Like Kooky, I tried the whole Friends Reunited thing, but after you've caught up with "what have you been doing for X years" there's not much to say.

Hmmm...there's always a chance to catch up with that chick that "got away" whilst you were in 6th form

Not that interested in chicks, FB. (Probably another thing I said I'd never do). Although interesting that a lot of the nerdy blokes turned out quite nice.

On a FB related note, my sister texted me a few weeks ago to say that a schoolfriend (who hadn't been in contact sine Friends Reunited days) was anxious to get in touch and passed her e-mail. So I duly did, and then she hasn't replied. How rude!

[Lili Von Shtupp]

Make friends, get rich? Some aspects of this ring true. But what defines a 'friend' nowadays?

Very interesting, Bender. Thanks for that.

[JJ]

I am with the chill-out faction. Take it or leave it, no big deal. Dont forget that your profile, the content thereof, and your friends list are yours to create and manage how you see fit, or indeed how you want to use the site. If you dont want to be friends with someone you can ignore the friends request (also if you reject, I dont think that they actually get to see this), similarly if you dont want to partake of the applications/requests etc, then you can ignore - they dont even get delivered to your FB inbox - they are in a separate section.

I actually like FaceBook. Having lived and worked all over the world, as most expats here, its impossible to keep up to date with everyone that you meet in all the different locations. There is a massive group of people who i had "lost" contact without really wanting to... they just kinda dropped off because they were not part of the core group of friends who i emailed regularly. That said, it didnt mean that I wanted to lose touch - just that time flies and you get caught up in things and before you know it, people have changed phones, emails, jobs, countries etc. and you have lost touch. So I have enjoyed catching up with the people that i wanted to catch up with, and i find FB a really useful way of quickly catching up with latest news/goss without individual emails all the time.

(I will admit though that I am sometimes shocked at the personal info that goes out into cyberworld, especially on the "status updates" but hey ho, thats GenY-ers for you... they just put it all out there Me and my fellow GenX-ers... we are far more circumspect and seriously limit what is out there - its easy to do)...

[slinky]

(I will admit though that I am sometimes shocked at the personal info that goes out into cyberworld, especially on the "status updates" but hey ho, thats GenY-ers for you... they just put it all out there Me and my fellow GenX-ers... we are far more circumspect and seriously limit what is out there - its easy to do)...

So true, JJ I have a (second?) cousin who is in her early 20's and some of the stuff she puts in that status update.....

[Satellite]

I
I actually like FB. )...

For a moment there, I thought you meant Fat Bob.

[JJ]

Oh ferk... give me a min...

Phew...

[Fat Bob]

I
I actually like FB. )...

For a moment there, I thought you meant Fat Bob.

there's been more than once that I've been confused:

"I also had some concerns about what I had read about FB's policies...."
Fair call.

"...where one's personal pictures and information were deemed to belong to FB even after one had deleted one's account. "
That makes me sound like a stalker.

"Isn't FB passe now, anyway?"
Up yours too!

"I just got back to FB and it is working well for me. "
Oh yeah, baby!

"FB seems to narrow the distance a little"
That'll be the beer gut.

"Here's why I got on FB, in order of priority"
Hold on a minute, sonny Jim, you have never been on me!

"If people use FB..."
I'm sorry, FB does not get used, FB uses!

"and i find FB really useful"
Why thank you darlin'!

[Dinosaur]

I'd joined with a dodgy name so they didn't know I was on there.

Yeh I did that too just to have a nose around. Haven't yet joined properly. Like Lili, I'm not sure about it and I probably spend far too much time on the 'net anyway. Gotta getta life sometimes, don't you?

[slinky]

...but we all know there are people out there who prowl Facebook looking for ways to feel better about themselves. Maybe they feel better because they have more friends than you. Maybe they feel better because you've gained weight. For whatever reason, I believe that for many, Facebook is the ultimate schauenfreude frenzy. I just don't want to put myself and my family and friends out there for that kind of reception.

Nah, you're from the US - they'll just be a bit in awe because you live in some far-flung country that they don't quite know the location of and they'll be hard-pressed to 'get' that it's really not part of China Trust me

[Lili Von Shtupp]

...but we all know there are people out there who prowl Facebook looking for ways to feel better about themselves. Maybe they feel better because they have more friends than you. Maybe they feel better because you've gained weight. For whatever reason, I believe that for many, Facebook is the ultimate schauenfreude frenzy. I just don't want to put myself and my family and friends out there for that kind of reception.

Nah, you're from the US - they'll just be a bit in awe because you live in some far-flung country that they don't quite know the location of and they'll be hard-pressed to 'get' that it's really not part of China Trust me

Oh, now we're talkin'. What's preventing me from just making shit up? My exotic life of derring-do as a chewing gum runner for the JB underworld. Do you think people will believe me if I tell them I've been caned?

[Lichtgestalt]

just call me lichty

Oi!

[Fat Bob]

Depends. how many ex-boyfriends are on there? How kinky did you get with them?

[Dinosaur]

Depends. how many ex-boyfriends are on there? How kinky did you get with them?

I found an ex-fiance of one of my friends on there, now claiming to be bisexual. She was in love with David Cassidy and now turns out that he was too Not sure whether to tell said friend or not. Probably not a good idea.


<< note for you youngsters: David Cassidy used to be heart-throb back in the 70s >>

[FurBaby]

a few things i decided early on about using FB:
- i put in minimal personal data, and keep my registered info as private as i like
- nevertheless, i only post things there which i wouldn't mind my boss/grandaunt/sunday school student seeing, bacause you just never know
... and most important:
- find out where the 'ignore all' button is on the requests page, so i can bypass the pirates, zombies, wars, hugs, potted plants, etc with one click!

[Fresh Mint]

An oldy bt goldy ... If Facebook was real life ...