Faceless
Posted by Joscelyn on April 30th, 2007
Ok this post has been brewing for awhile and I’m listening to CFRB talk about it for the second time in 2 weeks and here is my confession: I don’t do Facebook. Never will.
It’s a form of social media so I figure bloggers will have an opinion about it and here’s mine.
High school was fine. I didn’t hate it, I had some good times, I made great friends. In fact, my closest friends are from those years. But I’m in touch with everyone I need to be. If I’ve lost touch, well, what can I say? I don’t miss you! If we weren’t friends then, why do we want to pretend to care about each other now, just because of this site? This site IS high school. How many friends do you have? Are people writing on your wall? Are you dating someone? Not married yet? Do you have a good job?
All my friends are on Facebook. All. of. them. Seriously. My boyfriend is on it. His friends are all on it. I hear people talking about it at the grocery store, on the bus, in Tim Hortons. I must be the only 25 year old in the city, maybe even in the country, who wants nothing watsoever to do with it.
If you want to get in touch with me, my email address hasn’t changed in 10 years. My cell phone number has been the same since 2001 and if you really want to find me, my parents have had the same phone number since I was 4 and learned the thing. If you google me, you can find my work email, work phone number and this blog. I don’t need another way to be found. Period.
Are you on Facebook? Why?
Posted to Life outside PR, Ranting, Social Media
May 1st, 2007 » 10:33 pm
Love the title - clever!
May 2nd, 2007 » 6:45 pm
I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again… I don’t believe in Facebook. It’s nothing more than a revamped, well crafted, slick version of MySpace.
The best I can say is it’s for people who lack the creativity (and time) to build their own web site.
It’s a fad, much like MySpace, Friendster and all the others, and soon enough it will be over and done with.
May 2nd, 2007 » 10:25 pm
I can respect your personal opinion, but as a communications pro, how would you advise your clients?
May 3rd, 2007 » 2:36 am
I like the clean design of facebook, looking at Myspace can be painful sometimes. At first there was a novelty to seeing what people I’ve lost touch with have done, as I’ve moved around a bit, and unlike you I’ve lost track of some people I would have liked to keep in touch with. Truthfully though the novelty wore off fast.
It may be a fad but it’s one that has had a significant impact, in the past people from the past generally stayed there…
May 3rd, 2007 » 8:10 am
Zoey- so nice to hear from someone else not on Facebook! I agree- it is a fad and soon there will be thousands of Facebook profiles floating around with no one tending to them…
Dave- I would advise my clients to know about Facebook and how it works. It’s a toy, not a tool and they don’t need to be completely engaged in it to understand it.
I think the Ontario Government made a smart move today when they banned it for employees- I don’t pay their salary to have them spend their days looking up old girlfriends!
Bottom line, it’s a waste of time for kids, teens and especially adults.
May 3rd, 2007 » 10:29 am
Well said! It IS a toy and well some might see it as so-called social media, it’s rather simple and not overly professional.
I agree with Ontario for doing what they did. More businesses should follow in their footsteps.
May 4th, 2007 » 8:11 am
Jos & Zoey: Those are some pretty narrow-minded views. It wasn’t that long ago that the Internet itself was considered one giant time-suck populated by time-wasting employees e-mailing their friends, playing games and surfing porn.
I, for one, am not prepared to dismiss anything as a fad just yet. Social networking is here to stay, though the flavour may change from Friendster to MySpace to Facebook to the next thing.
I’ve found it pays to keep on open mind in our business and understand various modes of communication. Even the ones we’re not interested in participating in could be of interest and value to your clients.
People were wasting time at work long before the Internet came around. Does anyone play solitaire on Windows any more?
May 7th, 2007 » 9:53 am
Hi Dave- I don’t think it’s narrow minded at all. I understand how Facebook works and I can see the appeal for some. It’s just not for me.
I also don’t see it as a valuable means of communication for my clients. Some politicians have pages set up to “connect” with their constituents. For me, that’s just another way for them to hide and not do things the old fashioned, harder way like attending events, going door to door, being at the office to meet with locals.
The internet was viewed the way you described- I vaguely remember that. But let’s face it- 90% of the stuff you do online IS time-sucking. Facebook is just another way to occupy your time.
Employees that use Facebook at work aren’t using it for work; they’re looking for people, posting messages and playing around. All of your co-workers might be on Facebook too, but that doesn’t mean it’s an effective way to communicate with them. If they’re not online, they’re not seeing your message anyways. What happenned to email? What happenned to the phone? What happenned to walking down the hall?
Facebook might not be a fad. In fact, if it’s JUST as big or bigger one year from now, I’ll buy you a pint of Guiness.
But another quality time waster is going to come around and people are lemmings- they’ll jump right onto the new bandwagon and the only people still on Facebook will be stalkers and nerds.
If I’m right, I like vodka and cranberry juice with lime.
May 8th, 2007 » 2:03 pm
I just did some time sucking of my own venturing onto this site, and it was time well sucked. I understand where Joscelyn is coming from. It’s the same reason I am not on Facebook. It’s also why I came off of Hi5. From a social media perspective, we can’t always get caught up in the newest thing because sometimes its effectiveness at reaching some of our target audiences isn’t all that great. It’s not every organisation that can use Facebook. While social media presents numerous opportunities, the reality is that we’ve got to be selective in how we use the tools and the toys. Otherwise, we can end up faceless… Besides, I’d rather log on to a great blog!
May 8th, 2007 » 2:36 pm
Hi Joscelyn, I’m going to support David on this one (although I’ll defend your freedom to say what you like also
Here’s some examples as to why we - from a business POV - need to consider Facebook as more than a timewaster:
1. A buddy of mine is a publisher who hosts events for book launches, and has created groups around readings and his albeit small press which he relies upon to spread the word about upcoming events and book launches.
2. Look at Virginia Tech and how Facebook became a powerful vehicle to communicate information during and following this tragedy - not least how media also relied on this site to feed their own stories as well.
I agree - it is a time waster… but it’s what the decision-makers of tomorrow are using now, and will continue to use, so we need to understand what that means.
Best
brendan
May 8th, 2007 » 9:10 pm
I’m on Facebook. And it’s not to track down people I’ve lost track with who I went to high school with a hundred years ago.
It’s to keep track of my friends. I’m very very busy and I can see at a glance what my friends are doing, where they are, etc. I can drop them a line or two to keep in touch.
May 9th, 2007 » 8:02 am
Both views, Joscelyn’s and David’s have merit. It all depends on the situation and context for communication.
June 5th, 2007 » 9:52 pm
I’m not on Facebook. Or Myspace. I want nothing to do with them. NADA.
I was on them for a while but got tired of sitting staring at a screen. So I deleted both. No you’re not the only young person not on it. I have no cell phone either. This will change in the future but there is no immediate need for them. I just feel basically the same way. If someone really wants to talk to me and they are desperate they can email or phone or fax.
Sorry this post is late. Just found your blog. Cheers!