Meghan Daum wrote a good article on the self promotion aspect of Facebook. I hadn't thought about it before, but I so agree with her.
quote:
There's the travel brag, in which someone in an exotic locale mentions his whereabouts with a casualness that lets everyone know it's so not a big deal. "Can anyone recommend a bar in the Maroseyka district section of Moscow? My old haunt is closed!" (A corollary is sharing a travel itinerary by way of nothing more than coy airport codes — LAX-NRT, JFK-PRG — because your life is such a whirlwind of globe-trotting that you barely have time to spell out your coordinates before the airplane wheels leave the tarmac.)
One of the first apps on FB that I enjoyed, installed, and used was one that mapped all the countries you've been to on a huge world map. Lots of fun. I've never quite understood the animosity to FB. I use it mainly now for tracking peoples' birthdays.
My advice to columnists who decry the remarks on their "news feed": block a few of those so-called friends. My feed is restricted to actual friends & relatives, most of whom I don't get to see often. We exchange news, photos, & trivia that helps us stay in touch.
Posts: 2605 | Location: As they say at 101.5FM: Not New York... Not Philadelphia... PROUD TO BE NEW JERSEY!
When I started on FB I signed up to play a Zynga online game, which more or less demanded I be FB 'friends' with all sorts of people, to most of whom I wouldn't give the time of day normally. I realise that sounds snobby, but it meant that my feed was filled with all sorts of drivel.
Since coming to my senses and giving up playing the game I tend to ignore my main feed and concentrate on the lists I've created of family and 'real friends'.
Build a man a fire and he's warm for a day. Set a man on fire and he's warm for the rest of his life.
Oh, horrors! I use a FB link to do my favorite word game (JustWords at games.com), fortunately, no friending required. On the other hand, these things can easily go wrong. A new singing pal insisted I friend her to watch a video of our singing group. The link didn't work, & I am finding she posts racist sort of jokes, yecch.
Posts: 2605 | Location: As they say at 101.5FM: Not New York... Not Philadelphia... PROUD TO BE NEW JERSEY!
I only use Facebook in a very limited way, so my opinion should be taken lightly. However, I also only use Facebook for relatives and friends, and I can kinda see what she means. It's not a big deal for me, though, since I hardly use Facebook.