Social Networking: A 95 Theses
My grandmother will surely make fun of me for the following Jeff-like-totally-doesn’t-get-it post but, after using social networking sites for a couple years now, I have to get some unfashionable thoughts off my chest.
1. E-mail Exists: If you have access to it, correspond with me over my work or personal e-mail, not through the social network’s inferior messaging tool (until they improve). I know, I know, your kids tell you that e-mail is for old people, but they also thought Britney Spears was cooler than Bob Dylan at one point, remember?
2. Just Say No to Touchy-Feely Facebook Apps: I appreciate the thought, but please don’t send me any Facebook app requests that make us feel like we’re in middle school. I’m talking virtual hugs or flowers or teddy bears in exchange for friends’ email addresses. (Heh, unless one of our clients created the app…) The forced invites petition suggests others agree.
3. Some Statements Don’t Belong in Comments: Yes, the brave new world is all about transparency, and opacity is so yesterday, but must we leave the door wide open with the air conditioner blowing while riots line the streets?
If not, let’s try to keep conversations, which we would have kept private five years ago, out of the comments sections of social networking pages. (This is particularly a problem on MySpace, where the bad kids in the back of the bus hang out.)
It’s nice to ask about how that new shoe lift is compensating for my leg-length discrepancy, but, man, can’t you ask me in person, and not in front of my 10,000 “friends?” (All jokes aside, one of my legs is longer than the other, says my doctor, but I choose to roam the Earth suffering.)
Now, guys, please don’t unfriend me! I’m just sayin’!
Tags: comments, Facebook apps, forced invites petition, social networking, transparency