Facebook

[mpbrockman]

That was a whole of words to say you don't like new things.

That was a very small number of words used to make a sweeping generalization. Would you care to rephrase?

[Justin D.]

That was a whole of words to say you don't like new things.

That was a very small number of words used to make a sweeping generalization. Would you care to rephrase?

Sorry, I was being a bit facetious. I thought you did the same thing when you said, "I know - propriety, privacy and decorum are antiquated concepts - but some of us still prefer to hold on to them." Really though, no slight meant. Just remove that first sentence from my previous post. Sorry.

[mpbrockman]

That was a whole of words to say you don't like new things.

That was a very small number of words used to make a sweeping generalization. Would you care to rephrase?

Sorry, I was being a bit facetious. I thought you did the same thing when you said, "I know - propriety, privacy and decorum are antiquated concepts - but some of us still prefer to hold on to them." Really though, no slight meant. Just remove that first sentence from my previous post. Sorry.

Oh, I missed it - my bad (the perils of the internet).

In the age of tell-all books, Springer-esque television, reality shows, cell phones that record video, YouTube and yes, to an extent, Facebook; I wasn't really being facetious. I'm appalled by the (as Jesse put it) dirty laundry, not to mention trivial B.S., people feel free to air and just have never felt the need to be that close to my fellow man outside of a circle of handpicked family and friends.

It sounds as if you have a handle on how you use it. Good for you. I just don't see the need for another point of connection through the computer in my life. My girlfriend is on there and I've watched it eat huge chunks of her time dealing mostly in trivialities. My e-mail correspondence already does that, I imagine Facebook would be that times 10. I don't want that for myself, and I am guilty of not caring to climb the learning curve in order to figure out how to use it in the manner you describe yourself doing.

I've also watched with some interest the paradigm shift in terms of definition of privacy. There's a whole younger generation (including my 12 year-old daughter) for whom privacy is a concept that barely registers. That's fine when you're young and an open book, but I can't help but think that's going to come back to bite them in the ass someday. Even Abraham Lincoln would have said something stupid & reprehensible if he was Tweeting, Facebooking and had a camera in his face 24/7.

It may be that in my head I've made Facebook emblematic of all of that is indecorous, privacy-threatening, time-sucking, relentlessly self-promotional and impersonal. Perhaps this is wrong.

Nevertheless, I'm still not signing up.

(*sigh* Never say never, I guess. I should be old enough to know that much.)

[Brad Hawkins]

Michael is talking about toilet phone calls.

I'll explain. When I was a kid, there was no rule of etiquette that said you shouldn't make a phone call while taking a shit. No such rule was necessary, since the technology wasn't there. Who had a phone in the bathroom? Then cordless phones started to appear, and people could take them anywhere. If the issue came up of speaking to someone while pinching off a loaf, I think most people would have been aghast.

But then came the age of cell phones, and more importantly, then came the generation that grew up with cell phones. The phone is an extension of yourself, not an extension of your home, and literally goes everywhere with you. You use it at the dinner table, at the park, on a date, and yes, in the bathroom. There are no boundaries that say it's inappropriate in certain places. They never got set down, because the idea was so alien.

Facebook makes it possible to air notions that you wouldn't be able to get your actual friends to sit and listen to. That's pretty much it. I think that's Michael's main objection, and it certainly has some merit.

[Spots]

I agree with both notions. It's hard not to. Certainly facebook is a pandora's box of sorts. People use it for their basest of impulses & tend to make "toilet phone calls."

But I even find inspiration in that. Everything on the internet: you can take it or leave it. It's all texture. But if you put in an effort amidst all the pop & buzz, there's social context and networking there that's unparalleled. Your soccer friends can find common ground with your technical writing friends. People can spark up ideas for different ways humans can convene.

Granted, it helps if you don't mind your worlds colliding a little bit. And it appears Justin, myself, and millions of others don't.

[Justin D.]

It may be that in my head I've made Facebook emblematic of all of that is indecorous, privacy-threatening, time-sucking, relentlessly self-promotional and impersonal. Perhaps this is wrong.

Oh, it can definitely can be that, and it is for many people. It just doesn't have to be.

Nevertheless, I'm still not signing up.

(*sigh* Never say never, I guess. I should be old enough to know that much.)

Yep, I used to say the same thing about cell phones. I think my exact words were "I'm not a doctor and don't have a pregnant wife. What do I need a cell phone for? I have no reason to get one." Now? I'm never without it.

[Spots]

Yep, I used to say the same thing about cell phones. I think my exact words were "I'm not a doctor and don't have a pregnant wife. What do I need a cell phone for? I have no reason to get one." Now? I'm never without it.

Congrats! Is it a boy? Girl .. er .. PhD?

[Brad Hawkins]

Yep, I used to say the same thing about cell phones. I think my exact words were "I'm not a doctor and don't have a pregnant wife. What do I need a cell phone for? I have no reason to get one." Now? I'm never without it.

In fairness, you did take up dealing heroin.

[wiggies]

My problem with Facebook is that it's the Total Information Awareness program that Admiral Poindexter wanted the government to undertake. Except it's not the government, its their direct corporate overlords, and they don't have to spy, because we just tell them who we know, what we like, where we're going, etc.

All that said, yes I am on the Facebook. It gives me one more place to lurk.

[mpbrockman]

My problem with Facebook is that it's the Total Information Awareness program that Admiral Poindexter wanted the government to undertake. Except it's not the government, its their direct corporate overlords, and they don't have to spy, because we just tell them who we know, what we like, where we're going, etc.

So they make Mark Zuckerman "Man of the Year". Whereas Julian Assange does the same thing in reverse and is branded a traitor.

You're working the paranoia angle, Luis - but that doesn't mean they're not following you. While that isn't my primary reason for disliking Facebook ("toilet calls" is closer), it certainly factors in.

[Spots]

While that isn't my primary reason for disliking Facebook ("toilet calls" is closer), it certainly factors in.

I would put money on the Costanza "my worlds are colliding!" factor.