STOP what you're doing and read this.

[ChrisR]

Just remember facebooks code isn't the best. There are ways around all those privacy settings. Best advice is just not to put anything you wouldn't want the entire world to see up there.

Absolutely - I am a fairly open kind of person but there's no way that I put anything on Facebook that I wouldn't tell to a stranger. Classic ones I see on other people's profiles - "Bob is at the airport - just off on holiday for 2 weeks!" ... great, now everyone knows that Bob's house is unguarded for 2 weeks or "My boss is a real ... <insert insult here>" ... so all those "friends" at work have just been given something to make sure he never gets a promotion.

[NYRich]

Just remember facebooks code isn't the best. There are ways around all those privacy settings. Best advice is just not to put anything you wouldn't want the entire world to see up there.



Ha, well you said it yourself. Your life is boring, which is why most people follow other peoples twitters :) . A lot of people would rather live vicariously through others rather than living their own lives. But I'm with you, twitter is a massive waste of time... however to this day I wish I invented it.

All I'm doing is admitting the truth. I don't do anything so fascinating that the rest of the world needs to know about in real time. Whether they care to admit it or not, the vast majority of the population lead relatively uninteresting lives.

I've never understood living vicariously through others. There's a whole world out there in which to find something that you enjoy doing. I'm a rabid Yankee's fan who might be interested in a player's batting average, but I really don't care who he's dating or where he ate dinner last night.

As for Twitter, I personally, I wouldn't own the stock. Yet, I'd sure like to swap bank accounts with the guy who created it.

Facebook, like any other social networking site, is what the user makes of it. My generation didn't grow up with the Internet. I've adapted to it and think it's creation has already proven to be historically significant. I can no longer imagine life without email or forums such as this one, but I'd still rather be talking with you face to face than writing this.

I'm not against technology, but virtual reality is just that...virtual. No picture of a rose on the Internet will ever smell like the real thing.

[SMI]

Absolutely - I am a fairly open kind of person but there's no way that I put anything on Facebook that I wouldn't tell to a stranger. Classic ones I see on other people's profiles - "Bob is at the airport - just off on holiday for 2 weeks!" ... great, now everyone knows that Bob's house is unguarded for 2 weeks or "My boss is a real ... <insert insult here>" ... so all those "friends" at work have just been given something to make sure he never gets a promotion.

Ha, I know what you mean. I see so many people with status updates like that. I know everyone that I'm friends with (on FB), but even then I wouldn't want them all to know my house was up for grabs.

All I'm doing is admitting the truth. I don't do anything so fascinating that the rest of the world needs to know about in real time. Whether they care to admit it or not, the vast majority of the population lead relatively uninteresting lives.

For sure, I wasn't saying anything bad about your life.... just justifying why people like twitter. I for one can't stand it.

I've never understood living vicariously through others. There's a whole world out there in which to find something that you enjoy doing. I'm a rabid Yankee's fan who might be interested in a player's batting average, but I really don't care who he's dating or where he ate dinner last night.

Definitely agree on that one.... cept for that whole Yankee's thing (Boston born).

As for Twitter, I personally, I wouldn't own the stock. Yet, I'd sure like to swap bank accounts with the guy who created it.

Ditto.

Facebook, like any other social networking site, is what the user makes of it. My generation didn't grow up with the Internet. I've adapted to it and think it's creation has already proven to be historically significant. I can no longer imagine life without email or forums such as this one, but I'd still rather be talking with you face to face than writing this.

I'm not against technology, but virtual reality is just that...virtual. No picture of a rose on the Internet will ever smell like the real thing.

For sure, nothing takes place of real life... sadly generations coming up aren't exactly on that same wavelength. Maybe all the technology has just enabled people to live in bigger shells than they used to? Probably why all these sites have become so popular. I did grow up with all this stuff, but frankly I try my best to keep my distance. ****, I don't even like carrying a cell phone with me. My profession is internet marketing so I can't get away from it too much. People nowadays are so "plugged in" that they don't know what to do with themselves for a day without technology. I don't even see kids playing outside anymore, they are all inside on their xboxes and computers. Ask them if they want to go outside and play... they ask why.

[GCG199]

I agree with the sad fact that a lot of stupid stuff gets posted on the various social networking sites.

It is just like most forms of communication: ignore what you consider junk and the quality will be fairly simple to sort out.

I think that Google+ is a lot better than Facebook as far as the interface and ability to edit posts.

[SpyderNut]

I've never used Facebook, Twitter, or any other social networking site, so nothing for me to worry about there. Of course I would not be terribly surprised to learn they monitor this and others forums or email for certain words and phrases. I was given a piece of advice when I first got online, "don't send anything in an email, or post on a message board, that you wouldn't write on a postcard".

+100

[BAL]

I'm on Facebook several times a week and it is a fabulous tool.

I spent a visit with my father scanning old family photos, some going back to the nineteenth century, birth certificates, death certificates, etc. I burned CDs for my four siblings which they promptly lost. Rather than burn a new set, I opened a Facebook account and posted them all there. My siblings, nieces and nephews can see them whenever they wish and leave their own remembrances.

Hey Sequimite, I think that the way that you use Facebook is great. And besides who cares what I think. If you like it and use it then that's your business. I don't think that most people really take in account what they might be doing by sharing every little fact of their life and the ramifications from it. NYRich had a perfect example. One of his daughters was sharing info about her husband in Afghanistan, which at first glance sounds fine. However, any and everyone can read this and know that she doesn't have a husband at home when he is serving our country. That can be a little spooky. Someone might post that they are all at a ballgame and therefore no one is home. If I am a bad guy, sounds like a good place to visit. Just my old fashion opinion and I am getting older by the day. Take care man.