Facebook

[WindingRoad]

I deactivated my FB account last night. Seems that thing does nothing but suck away at my time. I tried several times to stop using it and I really could not. It was rediculous the amount of time I wasted on there. I'm trying to stay strong and leave it alone.

[Bike Chick]

Sorry to hear that Winding. Be strong.

FB has it's advantages and disadvantages. I could see how it could quickly become an obsession---kinda like the TE forum;)

[Mr. Bloom]

Out of curiousity, how long were you on FB? I've found that it become less relevant to me the longer I was on. Now, I'll occassionally post a quick comment (I don't tweet), and scan to see what's happening with my 450 close friends:rolleyes:

I stay away from the games and groups...

[OakLeaf]

No games, no groups, no apps here.

I use it quite a bit as a news aggregator, to get notifications of rides, events and schedule changes from the bike club (the reason I joined to begin with) and the yoga studio, to find out the night's specials at a few favorite restaurants, and to keep up with a small group of people that I know IRL.

[Bike Chick]

No games, no groups, no apps here.

I use it quite a bit as a news aggregator, to get notifications of rides, events and schedule changes from the bike club (the reason I joined to begin with) and the yoga studio, to find out the night's specials at a few favorite restaurants, and to keep up with a small group of people that I know IRL.

That's the reason we joined too, Oak. It's very handy for posting rides and notifications. And I have blocked all games.

[Veronica]

No Facebook here. They have no respect for the users' privacy.

If you use it and you don't pay for it, YOU are the product being sold.


Veronica

[WindingRoad]

I estimate I spent approximately 2 - 4 hours at a time on FB per day. The problem is that it has effected my study time and study quality. I had to level with myself that it was turning into a problem and accept the fact that it had to end. There are many recovering alcoholics and gamblers in my family. Apparently this is my 'issue'. I stopped playing video games for reasons similar to this. I would play video games for 7 - 8 hours at a time and honestly I was afraid this FB thing might escalate into that. TE is different somehow, I don't stay on it for hours on end, which is why I am allowing myself to stay here. I feel at least this is educational and health oriented in many ways. :) I can't say that about FB, if I spend 3 hours there I don't know anything new. With TE I might learn how to fix my brakes w/o spending a bunch of money at the bike shop or discover that the pannier I was about to spend $90 on was not so great :D

I do wonder how many others have found themselves in a similar predicament.

[Mr. Bloom]

Good for you windingroad! It sounds like you have plenty to fill your time

[shootingstar]

I still haven't gotten in FB yet.

The 4th cycling blog that I'm launching..for another organization will not have a Facebook presence. The problem is that myself and others in the tiny organization do not have time to respond, interact with other FB folks and also do daily clean-up of crap spam that FB spammers throw onto a public FB site.

I'm sure there is a way to lock out spammers and only post FB on the 'virtual' FB wall but the original point of FB for social interactivity is then lost. But I can't be bothered to spend the time and effort to figure out the nuances of FB settings to set it to only "read only" and no posting by other folks.

So why bother for our organization to have an FB, when organization's owners don't have time cleanup postings that don't belong? Sheesh...

I have a full-time job and right now, am struggling to manage and write content...for 4 different blogs outside of my job. :eek:

[azfiddle]

I usually check in on FB a couple of times during the day, but don't play any games etc. I have re-connected with a few friends, and use it for announcing gigs. I sometimes feel it is all "me, me, me", but like to see what some of my friends are up to.

I also have concerns about the privacy. My DH and I were just talking about how so much of our internet activity is being tracked.

[PamNY]

Good for you, Winding Road. There are great resources online, but it's very easy spend more time that you should.

[Crankin]

I check FB a few times a day, but I rarely post anything. I use it to vicariously keep up with all 45 of my "friends." I have reconnected with several people from my childhood, which is good.
I don't play video games or any games for that matter (including cards or board games), so that stuff has no interest for me. I have 2 "real" friends that I often chat with over FB, at odd times of the day, when I don't pick up the phone instead. I am much more addicted to TE! But, I also consider TE educational and since I have met many people from TE and ride with some of them, I don't see it as totally virtual. I can check TE at work, when I have down time, but FB is blocked. I guess some of the clinicians had a problem!
I find that this is very individual. I generally stay away from most technology. I don't have a Smart Phone, I don't know how to text, and I rarely use my cell phone. But, I do like looking at Facebook for some reason. My DH dislikes FB, although he does have an account. My older son has about 400 "friends" and occasionally posts, but lately has been using FB more as a business tool for connections. My son in the military thinks FB is evil and that they will steal your identity. Yet, his wife is on all of the time.
I see it as part of life, but not an important part. I could never be on it 3-4 hours a day.

[NbyNW]

FB was how I learned that my dad and some friends and their families were safe and unharmed following last week's earthquake.

I have my privacy settings very high. It is very hard for people to find me.

I probably only check it a few times a day, for several minutes at a time. Rarely post updates but I do share vacation photos.

It can be a good thing, as long as you have your own rules and boundaries for how you use it.

[roadie gal]

No Facebook here. They have no respect for the users' privacy.

If you use it and you don't pay for it, YOU are the product being sold.


Veronica

1++++ on this. I refuse to subscribe to the FB business model.

I hear a lot about reconnecting with people. I guess I'm a grinch of sorts. If I haven't spoken to someone for 30 years, why do I want to start now? I have a hard enough time keeping up with my family.

[roadie gal]

I estimate I spent approximately 2 - 4 hours at a time on FB per day. The problem is that it has effected my study time and study quality. I had to level with myself that it was turning into a problem and accept the fact that it had to end. There are many recovering alcoholics and gamblers in my family. Apparently this is my 'issue'. I stopped playing video games for reasons similar to this. I would play video games for 7 - 8 hours at a time and honestly I was afraid this FB thing might escalate into that. TE is different somehow, I don't stay on it for hours on end, which is why I am allowing myself to stay here. I feel at least this is educational and health oriented in many ways. :) I can't say that about FB, if I spend 3 hours there I don't know anything new. With TE I might learn how to fix my brakes w/o spending a bunch of money at the bike shop or discover that the pannier I was about to spend $90 on was not so great :D

I do wonder how many others have found themselves in a similar predicament.

VERY smart/ insightful/ brave of you to recognize that you have a potential problem. Good luck!

[OakLeaf]

I do wonder how many others have found themselves in a similar predicament.

I've had periods of time when I used video games as a "drug" to numb me up emotionally. I totally get where you're coming from. If giving up FB is what you need to do for yourself, good for you for recognizing that.

[Aggie_Ama]

No games, one group which is my mountain bike team. I refused for a long time but find it is the best way to keep up with who wants to ride or whatever. I have my privacy settings set super high because I agree FB doesn't respect it. I only check in if I am at my gym since they gave me a free membership. It ironically has strengthened several of my biking friendships. I guess it may be that many of them are young and have been using it since college, I graduated a year or so before it launched. I didn't get an account until November when I got a biking sponsor. It is handy but I find my Blackberry is causing me to use it more. Work blocks it because some people couldn't control their usage.

[Catrin]

No games, no groups - I check it once-twice a day but rarely spend more than 10 minutes on it if that long. It LOOKS like I am on there longer as I generally leave the tab open with it when my browser is open. I use it to post little cycling updates or links that I like - I won't get any more personal than that.

I spend FAR more time on TE - and I really need to pull back on that at work :o

[kjay]

No Facebook here. They have no respect for the users' privacy.

If you use it and you don't pay for it, YOU are the product being sold.


Veronica



Do you have an example or two? Just curious.

[OakLeaf]

Do you have an example or two? Just curious.

Facebook? Twitter? Google? Yahoo, even? Store loyalty cards?

And if TE isn't data mining us, they're missing a big opportunity ... obviously they take informal notice of what we say here and use it to increase their bottom line, as they should.

[kjay]

Facebook? Twitter? Google? Yahoo, even? Store loyalty cards?

And if TE isn't data mining us, they're missing a big opportunity ... obviously they take informal notice of what we say here and use it to increase their bottom line, as they should.


Guess I don't understand how data mining is necessarily disadvantageous. Any examples of that? Thanks.

[shootingstar]

Data mining in the social media context is getting into personal details about ourselves. Unless I've misunderstood Oakleaf's point.

Already we're showered with spam junk in other electronic ways.

[emily_in_nc]

I just signed up for FB about two weeks ago after resisting for years. It finally got to the point that so many links were on FB that I couldn't get to that I gave in. A lot of these have to do with our condo in Belize -- FB is huge down there as cell phone minutes are very pricey compared to in the states, so people tend to email and FB more than call or text. So many businesses post specials and information via FB only that you almost have to be on.

I have only allowed 7 friends so far, and all those are real friends except for a semi-crazy aunt I have who I didn't really want to be watching me. Before I signed up, I researched how to set my privacy settings super high so that only friends can see anything I do, I can't be found through google or FB searches, and I even managed to block my aunt specifically from reading my status updates or seeing new photos I post. I just don't want to share everything with her!

Most of my friends who are on FB used it to reconnect with high school or college friends, but I really haven't wanted it for that at all. One of my friends is my best friend from HS, but she would be my friend with or without FB. I mostly signed up to connect with businesses, as I mentioned, and to see vacation photos from a few special friends.

So far, other than the first couple days when I was getting it set up, I've only spent 10-15 minutes per day on it, and that I can easily handle.

Now Twitter...another story! :D

[malkin]

I opened a FB acct to get pictures from my daughter and to check in now and then with my nieces and a few other people.

I use a name that no one at work will recognize, as these are parts of my life that need to be separate. I don't respond to friend requests.

[Veronica]

facebook knows a lot of personal information about you and there is no law that keeps them from sharing that info with anyone and their dog.

Veronica

[jobob]

No Facebook here. They have no respect for the users' privacy.

If you use it and you don't pay for it, YOU are the product being sold.



facebook knows a lot of personal information about you and there is no law that keeps them from sharing that info with anyone and their dog.



Like what, V? Apart from what I choose to post about myself, what else does facebook know about me?

Kjay has very politely asked for specifics. I am asking as well.

- Jo.

[snapdragen]

Facebook has nothing about me but my name. I did not enter my address, phone number, city, employer. I've also got the privacy settings pretty much locked down, and I check the regularly. Dear Mr Zuckerberg seems to make changes on a whim. :rolleyes:

FB was invaluable to me when my Dad was dying. A friend up in Washington sent me messages regularly, helping me cope while I played "the strong one" for the family (she had lost her Dad a couple of years ago). Other friends posted prayers, wishes or just hello, we love you notes. It meant a lot to me.

Like anything else, FB is what you make it. If you post every intimate detail of your life, the world will know it. Same goes for posting on TE......

[jobob]

It was great to hear from DirtDiva on fb a few hours after the Christchurch earthquake and know that she was OK.

Oh dear, is that Mark Zuckerberg sitting on my toilet ...? :eek:

[shootingstar]

There is a twitter page somewhere but that's all it's used for..to auto-post some blog article references. Not used to engage in dialogue with folks.

I know it's under-used. But it's just another distraction to me, away from face to face people who are close to me.

After 3 wks., one of my sisters finally emailed me tonight. I think she's been too busy with her babies and working, etc. No, she's not computer illiterate. She does use her Blackberry, etc. Life just overtakes some folks' schedules.

I always find it interesting how much people do write by email in families whereas in my family, we're fundamentally lazy. Phone is the preferred method. I'm the gabber in family in emails, etc. (No one else in my family blogs.)

I haven't even arranged to Skype with any family member, except my dearie and I'm not pushing them hard when some are juggling other priority things. We're aren't Luddites, it's just hard to express some complex family situations in text vs. verbally. Facebook? Oh, forget it. Just getting emails is an achievement in my family and that's not all family members. Not everyone has a computer.

[jobob]

Not everyone has a computer.

It might be safe to assume that most people who participate in this forum do.

[lph]

Good for you, WR, for thinking things through and figuring out your priorities. It's easy to get caught up in something that is entertaining but ends up wasting too much time. I find myself checking FB very (too) often but not for long at a time, and I've blocked all the game apps. I love it when people post photos, notes, and trip reports, though. And random thoughts from their day - these are my friends after all, not just anyone, so I am interested in what they're thinking about.

[Veronica]

Like what, V? Apart from what I choose to post about myself, what else does facebook know about me?

Kjay has very politely asked for specifics. I am asking as well.

- Jo.

There is a long Wikipedia article (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Criticism_of_Facebook#Data_mining) about problems with Facebook.

I know that many of you are very happy with it. That's great and if it lets you stay in contact with people and gives you information, fantastic. It's not something I wish to participate in for a whole host of reasons - (privacy issues, time sump, closed social circle...) I have other ways to stay in contact with people.

Veronica

[Catrin]

I have my FB account locked down tight, and it is a good idea to check your privacy settings regularly. For some of my family this is really the only way we connect with each other - our schedules are so opposite each other...

I only have 54 "friends" - but I know every last one of them and they are, indeed, friends and family. I still won't post anything really personal - I pretty much limit things to cycling updates and links that I like. I suspect that my non-cycling friends and family (most of the 54) are convinced I am a little nutty where cycling is concerned, but that is fine :D

As with any website of any kind, nothing in the internet every has been or ever will be "private". Especially with social networking sites of any kind, it pays in the long term to remember this...

To illustrate, I can still find emails to a list I subscribed to back in the late 1980's when I was much younger and quite rebellious! Thankfully no one knows that was ME :o :eek: My user names/email addys were far more creative in those years, fortunately.

I am quite thankful that the content from the old bulletin boards (pre-www protocol days) no longer exists, though they were quite fun at the time!

[Crankin]

I have less "friends" than you, Catrin. And they are all people I know.
The most disturbing thing I have found on the internet about me was directly tied to TE. There is a site that tracks your postings on websites; they had my daily average, with my real name by the average. This seemed to be a site that TE must subscribe to, so I let Susan know. I don't remember the name of the site now, but it did seem a bit over the top.
If anyone thinks the stuff you post is private, well, they are dumb. I often wonder if other women riders I know around here look at TE and see my posts. It wouldn't be hard to figure out who I really was, if you knew me in person, even slightly.

[Catrin]

I have less "friends" than you, Catrin. And they are all people I know.
The most disturbing thing I have found on the internet about me was directly tied to TE. There is a site that tracks your postings on websites; they had my daily average, with my real name by the average. This seemed to be a site that TE must subscribe to, so I let Susan know. I don't remember the name of the site now, but it did seem a bit over the top.
If anyone thinks the stuff you post is private, well, they are dumb. I often wonder if other women riders I know around here look at TE and see my posts. It wouldn't be hard to figure out who I really was, if you knew me in person, even slightly.

Yep - nothing is private...I think I know what site you are referring to, I will have to check it out, haven't done so in some time. That is one of the reasons I don't vent here very often - at least not where people or work are concerned, outside of general references.

A good percentage of my FB friends are from church, and I do sometimes wonder what they think of my cycling posts :)

[OakLeaf]

If you run the Firefox add-on NoScript (http://noscript.net/), you can block Google Analytics as well as other tracking scripts.

You can whitelist any site you want, or temporarily allow scripts (a few retail sites are starting to require Google Analytics to complete a purchase). You can allow Facebook's own scripts to run only when you're actually on Facebook. Probably best to quit out of your browser and re-start it after you navigate away from sites where you've temporarily allowed scripts.

It takes a couple of days to get the hang of using NoScript, but anyone who's concerned about privacy should be using it.

You'll also want to periodically delete your Flash cookies (http://www.orzeszek.org/blog/2009/08/12/how-to-delete-flash-cookies-conveniently/).

[shootingstar]

I think there's a couple of server robots following me around.. I can tell because my blogs reflect the country of who visited the blog (ie. the flags, that's all I know) and there are 1-2 locations that consistently show up too often. I know I don't write exciting stuff to have such a consistent following.

It's at least, a piece of software script that has been programmed to track me at different time intervals on my movement across my blogs. Which would be an easy thing to do. I can see that working somehow on FB.

Yea, I know: creepy.

This is why I don't have any interest to twitter, fb...that's even more exposure for myself.

I'm flabbergasted by people's details on LinkedIn, yet it is heavily touted as THE social media job search tool by marketing/branding yourself.

Nope. I refuse to place details of my employment history there and dates. Tough for me. I apply for jobs normally rather than have people troll for me.

[Crankin]

Well, my son got his job from someone finding him on Linked In. He's in a rather specialized field (language translation project management) and he is *so* happy with his new job that I can't say anything bad about Linked In. I am pretty sure I will not use it in my job search, for the sole reason that human service jobs are not really found on there. There are a couple of other lists I am using for my job search; if they track me down and I get a job from this, I will be very happy!

[nancielle]

Well, my son got his job from someone finding him on Linked In. He's in a rather specialized field (language translation project management) and he is *so* happy with his new job that I can't say anything bad about Linked In. I am pretty sure I will not use it in my job search, for the sole reason that human service jobs are not really found on there. There are a couple of other lists I am using for my job search; if they track me down and I get a job from this, I will be very happy!


Crankin, you might already be aware of this (and I'm not sure where in the state you are) but there is a job fair coming up next month in Newton:

http://www.mamhca.org/lmhcs-job-fair.htm

[jobob]

As with any website of any kind, nothing in the internet every has been or ever will be "private". Especially with social networking sites of any kind, it pays in the long term to remember this...


Bingo.

[tulip]

I ditched Facebook a year ago and I never looked back. I had 49 or so "friends," all of whom I actually knew. I sent a personal email to each one of them with my contact information: email, phone, and mailing address. I had exactly ONE person actually contact me. One.

I am so much happier spending my time working in my garden, riding my bike, doing Pilates and yoga, reading books, and training my dog. I talk to my real friends on the phone and even visit them in person. I bake bread and learn foreign languages. My life is so rich and full, and I'm not missing a thing and not wasting my time late into the night on the computer.

YMMV

[Crankin]

Nancielle, yes, I am going to the job fair. I am also going to ask about working where I am at now; getting the courage to "sell myself" tomorrow, possibly. I am lucky that I can afford to do fee for service, but I don't want to prolong the 2 years to get my license. It's a balance between wanting some time to ride and have a little breathing room and being done in 2 years and not one minute longer!
I saw a job on Idealist today that would be perfect for me, in a day treatment center in Central Sq. I could take the train and there is possibility of flexible schedule. But, I think it's too soon to send my resume.

[Cataboo]

I ditched Facebook a year ago and I never looked back. I had 49 or so "friends," all of whom I actually knew. I sent a personal email to each one of them with my contact information: email, phone, and mailing address. I had exactly ONE person actually contact me. One.

I am so much happier spending my time working in my garden, riding my bike, doing Pilates and yoga, reading books, and training my dog. I talk to my real friends on the phone and even visit them in person. I bake bread and learn foreign languages. My life is so rich and full, and I'm not missing a thing and not wasting my time late into the night on the computer.

YMMV

I emailed you a little bit after you ditched facebook! I'm two, really!

[Mr. Bloom]

My FB post this morning states:


I find it disturbing that, while looking on a Washington Post news site, I see WP articles posted on FB by FB friends. This demonstrates a much higher level of integration in nonaffiliated sites than I think is healthy....hmmmmm

I think I have a decision to make...even if I have nothing to hide, this seems intuitively dangerous

[OakLeaf]

Just disallow that FB script when you're not actually on FB...

I'm serious, anyone who's concerned about privacy, even on the level of being creeped out, should control the scripts that are running on their computer. It's a little bit of a pain, but you don't need any technical knowledge, just the experience of messing with the controls for a couple of days.

[NbyNW]

My FB post this morning states:


I find it disturbing that, while looking on a Washington Post news site, I see WP articles posted on FB by FB friends. This demonstrates a much higher level of integration in nonaffiliated sites than I think is healthy....hmmmmm

I think I have a decision to make...even if I have nothing to hide, this seems intuitively dangerous

I've been wondering about this lately too. If you can figure out how to disable it, I'd love to know how!

[emily_in_nc]

I've got all Apps & Websites turned off in FB. It's under your account -> privacy settings, and should prevent the behavior you're concerned about, Mr. B.

[Mr. Bloom]

This happened on my iPad where I haven't found an ability to disable scripts:confused: but I'm still researching...

Here's the thing I see as dangerous:
- I get privacy issues...ironically this doesn't bother me since I'm not doing anything I'd be ashamed of...
- but, now that I've seen the "dots connected", I see an ability for an uninformed third party to draw incorrect presumptions about me simply by my association with folks who do certain things or post links to other things...

In a "McCartney-esk" world, this could be a bad thing whether or not I disable scripts or not...where I might be held accountable, by association, for the actions/beliefs of casual friends and acquaintances that I may share little in common with...except that I let them into my "FB tent"

[Mr. Bloom]

Thanks Emily. I was typing the last post while you posted yours. I've gone into the privacy settings and made changes, but I'm not sure yet that those changes address my concern...more to follow.

This may toll the end of my days on FB...I see it as that big an issue...not in the context of the world as it us, but rather a world that might be...

...maybe I'm just being too Orwellian

[OakLeaf]

Yeah, disabling apps won't stop the scripts from running, and you're right, I don't know any easy way to disable individual scripts on an iPad. I'm sure it can be done, but you might have to root the device, which would void the warranty, and is not for the faint of heart anyway.

You can disable Java entirely under your Safari settings, but there are a lot of sites that require it. The iPad doesn't do Flash, which is inconvenient sometimes, but is one less thing to worry about.

Also remember to delete your browsing and search history (also in Settings:Safari). One of the things that a lot of the tracking scripts do is read your history. The more often you delete it, the less they can see.

[WindingRoad]

Kinda glad I don't have my account any longer to worry about all of this :) I am amazed how much I accomplished this past weekend with no facebook to distract me! I seriously did not think FB was a problem but it can so easily get out of hand. Use it with caution. Unfortunately I am unable to do that so cold turkey seems the only approach for me. I deleted that app from my iPhone too and I find myself not having the urge to compulsively check my phone now. This was long overdue.

[shootingstar]

Here's the thing I see as dangerous:
- I get privacy issues...ironically this doesn't bother me since I'm not doing anything I'd be ashamed of...
- but, now that I've seen the "dots connected", I see an ability for an uninformed third party to draw incorrect presumptions about me simply by my association with folks who do certain things or post links to other things...


Yes, true. Alot of people on Earth have my name. My last name is the top 10 most popular Chinese last name in the world. I've seen what other women look like who share the same name set as I. There's enough that we could run a guessing contest..

This is why even if some people had small info. on my cycling hobbies, I don't mind.

Or maybe it's a good thing to have aliases. :p

[OakLeaf]

True that. No one who's actually looking for me on FB can find me because my name is so common.

My DH, who has a less-common first name and an extremely unusual last name, still has two other people on FB alone with his same name.

[GLC1968]

True that. No one who's actually looking for me on FB can find me because my name is so common.

My DH, who has a less-common first name and an extremely unusual last name, still has two other people on FB alone with his same name.

And on the flip side of this, my maiden name is so incredibly unique that a simple google search will reveal all you'd ever want to know about me, my parents, my deceased aunt and my brother (and to a lesser extent, his wife). The info I have on my Facebook account is already out there. *shrug* It's a damn good thing that I have nothing to hide! :p

[tulip]

There are maybe five people with my first name (that I can find), and I never heard of anyone with my first name until about 10 years ago. My last name is rare except in certain areas. No one has both my first and last names that I've ever found. I guess that makes me easy to find. So maybe I don't need Facebook to be found. Folks can just google me.

[emily_in_nc]

There are maybe five people with my first name (that I can find), and I never heard of anyone with my first name until about 10 years ago. My last name is rare except in certain areas. No one has both my first and last names that I've ever found. I guess that makes me easy to find. So maybe I don't need Facebook to be found. Folks can just google me.

And I'm just the opposite. My name (both first and last) are so common that I'm nearly impossible to find! I also set up FB so that my Facebook account can't be found in a google search at all nor in a FB search unless it's by one of my already accepted FB friends (and I only have seven). There are a ton of other people on FB with my same first/last name, and I didn't use my maiden name as my middle name so as to avoid friend requests from old classmates. If I want to find them, I will (most are already friends of my one FB friend from high school), but I don't want them to find me.

I set all my privacy settings to "friends only" or "only me" and disabled apps and websites. I've only been on FB for two weeks but so far nothing remotely worrisome has occurred...at least that I am aware of.

[channlluv]

I really admire you for recognizing the problem and shutting it down. Did you completely delete your account, or just deactivate it?

I have an account but I often forget to check in for several days. I get real-life friends who ask why I didn't respond to their such-and-such post/photo/video link, and it's just because I never saw it.

I keep up with a few real friends via FB, and family, but the rest is all pretty much just interesting chatter among professional contacts similar to what I'd hear at a conference, so it's fun and informative, usually, but nothing I need to check on every day.

I have addiction issues in my family, too, so I don't drink, have never done drugs. I'm glad technology isn't one of my personal demons. (Food is challenging enough.)

Roxy

[shootingstar]

For people whose primary paid jobs is to demonstrate how to manage information at an advanced level by using certain web technology tools, one does have abit of published stuff on the Internet. In my field, employers expect it and would question a candidate's basic technical as well as conceptual (by subject area) ability.

So I will say....blogging is a very simple content management technology, that does not offer the same robustness or scaleability as other content management software technologies. But I could only claim this the best...by actually blogging, using Wordpress and its different versions (.com vs. self-hosted .org versions) and comparing it with other technologies where I have both planning and implementation expertise.

So in a way for me not to use FB, I might be not enhancing my skill set since blog content can be pushed into one's own FB. However, I still think FB technology is more of a communication and distribution tool instead of a sophisticated content management tool. It appears to me, unless someone can tell me differently, that capacity to search FB content is extremely limited. Same for Twitter which is worse because of the 140 character limit which only creates cryptic messages of little value in a few months.

Certainly people's careers that involve marketing, they should become familiar with FB and Twitter (another tool, which has limited distribution capacity. It's greatest strength like FB is speed and ubiquity, provided the planned target audience also has FB and Twitter). I know that many of colleagues are Twittering from conferences, etc. Am I missing out on the scuttlebut? Well, I'm only interested, in the end, the published stuff or phone/face-to-face networking. Even on listserves, people on the job don't have time to use their professional association listserves, internet forums, etc.

Virtual collaboration and communication on the job and related to one's job, is great if there's time and if your employer pays you to use some of it, even if only in a targeted way.

I'm just explaining my position from a career/job standpoint as somone steeped in information management for most of my career.