If Facebook were a country, it would be smaller than only two others worldwide (thesocialmediasource.com). It seems as if these days everybody is on Facebook, except me. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not technophobic and I love my phone, iPod, computer, and other assorted gadgets, but I have legitimate reasons for resisting the trend.
My biggest concern is privacy, not the cyber-password-personal-sell-my-stuff-to-advertisers sort of privacy, but another kind. See, Facebook displays the times a user is and isn’t on line. So, if I were say, ignoring a friend request from a weird distant cousin or an irritating person from my second hour, it doesn’t work. The person won’t chalk it up to not checking my page often and realize that I don’t want to take our interactions to cyber space. This would make subsequent encounters with the person awkward.
Another thing I’ve noticed is that people who post together don’t stay together. So many fight, break-ups and heartaches are caused by Facebook clashes. I don’t think the brain to mouth filter works between the brain and the fingertips. The boldness created by not talking in person often leads to trouble. It’s made worse by the fact that in any written communication the tone, facial expressions, and body language that convey so much are missing. Misunderstandings happen more easily on-line.
Facebook is a wonderful tool used by businesses, schools, and friends. For the moment, however, the barbs on this tool make me leery of using it. I might have need of it later, and I’ll reassess it then. Right now, I’m more than happy not to have people whining about my reluctance to friend them or questioning my staying on-line until three in the morning, when in reality, I just forgot to sign out. Facebook might be a great and vast country, but my citizenship remains in reality.