Yesterday I was perusing my GoogleReader and came across the latest David Noah post on the CTL blog. If you haven't seen the CTL blog, or read one of David's posts, you are definitely missing out. I don't know David personally*, but I do know that his posts will always point you in the direction of some fairly interesting reading.
My favorite article on that list is the last one he mentions called You Have No Friends, with the subtitle Everyone Else is on Facebook, Why Arent You. Essentially, the author starts out by discussing Facebook in general and the way he uses it (alot of times to keep in touch with extended family). He then goes into arguments he's heard from people holding out on joining Facebook, including my favorite (and shared) concern: not wanting other people to be all in your business.
I understand that the very nature of Facebook is that people are able to connect and keep up with you. But I still think its problematic. The way I deal is that I still am a member of Facebook nation, but I definitely do not let it run my life. I can go weeks without checking it and get (more than) a little annoyed when people expect that I check it more often than I do. I also severely monitor my Facebook image - I'm always untagging pictures and monitoring wall posts. I'm trying to walk the fine line of having a Facebook presence without having to feed a Facebook obsession.
Interestingly, Facebook has become so popular that its now normative! People are now surprised to hear when you dont have a Facebook account when I remember that it was only a few short years ago that Facebook did not even exist. Gasp! Facebook has now gone the way of cell phones, mp3 players, and Macs...they are awesome, everyone has them, and they assume you do too (and if you dont, you should).
Personally, I can easily see in the not so distant future disabling my Facebook account...and not looking back. We'll see how long it takes me to get there :)
You can find the article here.
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*I really should stop in and introduce myself, especially since I know exactly where his office is and I'm over in CTL at least twice a month - lol. Oh! And the fact that I love reading his blog posts.
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5 comments:
I am proudly not a member of the Facebook Nation. I graduated from college the year after it really took off and as a graduate student I guess I was too busy with the first year in graduate school to really worry about Facebook. I don't know, I really have problems with everyone knowing my business--there are just some things people shouldn't always know about you. Maybe its just me. Maybe I'll eventually submit.
Much of my extended family (parents, aunts, uncles, etc.) is now on Facebook. I had a blast over winter break explaining to my father what "tagging" someone in a picture means, or what being in a Facebook group entails. They seem to be having a lot of fun with it! :)
I don't have a Facebook account and don't plan on getting one unless it allows me to do something that other things don't. I've had two friends ask me why I'm not on Facebook. They think it's great. I told them that I don't need to get on it. I've already got a website to share photos, I've already got an email address to send messages. I will never have an online journal for the whole world to see because that's not my personality. I don't want or need another gizmo in my life. It took me a long time to get a cell phone because I didn't need one. I finally got one in 2003 after my junky car stranded me in the middle of nowhere several times. Now I have only the cell phone and no land line. I like it that way.
@Jim: Hold fast to the fight! It wasn't a terribly big deal when I joined, but as I get older, I definitely have issues with people being all up in my business.
@Liz: I can only imagine how that was explaining tagging to the family. Thankfully, my mom is not on Facebook...yet. One of her friends has planted the seed and I know its only a matter of time that she'll be asking me to explain it in more detail. And mess up its name - this is the woman who calls her Camry a "Cambry." Love her to pieces though.
@Athena: I only have one phone too. Mostly cause I'm cheap and my cell essentially is free long distance. My fiance, however, is accustomed to having both a cell and a land line. Which means when he moves in, we'll probably get another phone. Ech.
Shockingly, I am not on Facebook either. I totally get the pressure from people to join but I am still holding out. Partially, I just don't get it. If you're going to log on and type a message, send it to my e-mail. Why would you want everyone else either of us has ever met to be a party to our conversation?
I also don't understand how graduate students have time to have a Facebook life. I barely have time for my actual life. I cannot imagine adding something else to the list of things I have to worry about (uga mail, gmail, google group, blog, cell phone, mail) so that I can 'stay in touch' and manage my life. I struggle to find the time to maintain my relationships with my near and dear friends and family. I do not have time to try to maintain a "facebook friendship" with the zillions of people I went to high school and college with.
Furthermore, most people that I know on Facebook are obsessed. (If my one roommate spent as much time on his dissertation as he does on Facebook, he would be graduating in May, not August.) My students act like they would have convulsions if they could not maintain constant, instant contact with the people in their lives. Shouldn't some of your alone time actually be spent alone? What do you talk about when you do see your friends if you already receive real-time updates of everything that happens in their life? (Steve is currently changing a load of clothes, Zac is driving to campus and Adeline is changing Charlie's diaper.)
And my final anti-Facebook rant: I know that David Noah says that privacy is over. Perhaps I am an old fuddy-duddy but I freakishly monitor my google and on-line presence. I want to control what type of information is on the web about me and putting my life on display on Facebook is not something I am interested in. I know that being on Facebook allows people to keep in touch with friends and family that they seldom see but it also allows total strangers to have access to their life. I feel sorry for the 'students' of this generation. I consider myself fortunate that some of the unwise things that I did as a college student were not instantly broadcast via internet and cell phone camera to God and the world. I don't understand why being 'in touch' is so important. Seriously, does it really matter what Susie did at the bar last night? I guess if I were on Facebook, I'd know.
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