Using Facebook to Network...Adavantages? Disadvantages?

[HobieSport]

I've been wondering about using Facebook to network with friends in general. For those here who use it, or have decided not to, what are some advantages or disadvantages that you might foresee?

It always seemed to me overly "vulnerable" to weirdos and people seeking personal info for commercial purposes to put lot's of personal info out there on the net to the general public, so generally I "network" through decent forums or just through a private email contacts list. Am I missing out on anything genuinely useful? I realize that one can put as much or as little on a Facebook profile as one wants, but I just never saw much use in it.

[gpo706]

easiest to use of the networking sites, you ask peeps to accept you, and vice versa, you can decline, ignore, or accept.

Lets know your name/addy if you go for it, spend hours talking bollocks about old phones...

[McHeath]

I don't use any social networking sites, though most of the family does.  I'm not really going to release that much personal info to the world at large, though some folks are quite comfortable with it.  I've seen good and bad happen with friendships on the social sites, but it's not my cup of tea.

[gpo706]

I agree to an extent can eat up your time replying to trivia, dioes have its own messenger app, keeps me away from screwdrivers and phones...

[Phonesrfun]

My whole family seems to use Facebook.  Even my 83-year old mom.  My brother and my two sisters, and all of my kids.  I think I have received an invite from all of them to join, but so far I have not.  I guess I can control the amount of information I choose to put out there, so that does not worry me very much, and I have used other networking sites in the past.  In a way, this is one too. 

I usually opt to put real information out there, so even though I have a screen name here, I don't mind people knowing who I am in real life, but on something like Facebook, I think I would be more guarded.

I don't object to facebook from the standpoint of a social networking concept.  I just view it as one more thing (like was earlier expressed) to keep a screw driver out of my hands, or yet another distraction.

What ever happened to using the telephone for networking?  We have more technology than ever before when it comes to telecommunications, and I get free long distance.  So what ever happened to the AT&T slogan of "Reach out and touch someone"?  It's only a phone call away.

-Bill Geurts

[HobieSport]

What ever happened to using the telephone for networking?  We have more technology than ever before when it comes to telecommunications, and I get free long distance.  So what ever happened to the AT&T slogan of "Reach out and touch someone"?  It's only a phone call away.

-Bill Geurts

What a novel concept, Bill; to use an actual telephone to communicate. Now if only we had a few telephones handy...

Actually, I have free long distance also, and I was meaning to phone you about that 1968 500 that was giving me trouble, but I found the problem. I'll post about that on that thread.

But just in terms of regular chit-chat, I kind of prefer email to the telephone for a couple of reasons. One is that if the talk involves real sharing of info, I find it easier for me to remember all what was said, because with email or forum conversation, I have a written record that helps with my sometimes short-term memory.

Also, phone calls really do "take the screwdrivers out of our hands", and a really fun phone call, where both parties are enjoying it, can tend to go on and on...

It's great to hear a friend/relatives' voice; for example when my Dad was getting really old, we used to spend good hours on the phone from across the country, and that was much better than email could ever be for us, but now with my sister and cousins and such, it works better just to keep in touch by email. Anyway, to each their own.

But if anyone here might like to keep in touch by Facebook also, I'm reworking my Facebook profile today. Right now I'm just trying to learn how to edit my profile. I'll post my Facebook "address" here after I figure it out.

[foots]

Using telephones to chit chat with people is really the way to go in my opinion. I have no desire to use facebook, tweeter or anything like that. E-mail does have some good points, but to me, sitting in front of a typewriter and clacking out an honest to goodness letter to a friend can't be beat. It gives me a feeling of accomplishment. It's also a real joy to get a nicely typed friendly letter in the mail. Its also something that you don't have to worry about disappearing if your computer crashes. You can also send stuff with your letter such as newspaper articles or photographs and/or postcards.

[Greg G.]

I was averse to using anything like FB until recently, because I thought it was for people with no life outside of the internet, and I'm a very private guy.  I still much prefer face-to-face contacts, or at least verbal communication over the phone.

However, as I said, I got talked into it.  It's mostly family members, and I have to admit it's a good way to keep up with what's going on with them when they don't communicate via my preferred methods.  Some caution - lock it down in the security area!  A friend had to show me where on FB to go to choose what you show to who.  I unchecked a lot of boxes.  Also, in that same area, you can choose not to have your name show up when somebody tries to search it, or have your name come up in a search, but not show your picture.  Or just not have a profile picture at all, or put up some icon like what we do here.  You can also choose to lock people out or take them off your friends list and they won't know.

Even at that, I still try to keep it to a minimum.  And I still won't do texting!

[mienaichizu]

for me, just games, you have an option if you want to put personal infos or not, you can leave it blank

[bwanna]

i got on FB in order to view my niece's wedding pics. now i find it is a good way to share pictures, website links or a quick bit of info.  of course a phone call or personal visit is always preferable. but sometimes playing "phone tag" gets tiresome.

i do miss the days of good old-fashioned letter writing. it is still a treat to find a letter or card in the "snail mail" box.

i have been on FB for over a year & not had any problems with creeps or unsolicited friend requests. i was hesitant to post my real name, but with the internet if someone is looking for you they can find you.

[HobieSport]

Well I gotta say that I'm really starting to enjoy using Facebook a lot. It just took me some time to get comfortable with how it all works. I did, as Brinybay said, carefully go through all my privacy settings.

Just in the past month, I've renewed several good old friendships and gotten in touch with some relatives that I've missed for years, from all over the world.

My attitude about FB now is that one can be as private or as public as one wants, anytime one wants. I liken it to siting around a public campfire in the center of a circle of private campgrounds, and you can decide to hang out at the center campfire or not. But even better, you can decide which of your friends you want to hang out with, anytime. It's like a forum but even more socially dynamic.

I just see it as another form of communication, and a very fun one at that, once I got comfortable with it. Anyway, if anyone might want to invite me to their "campfire" sometimes, I'm at: http://www.facebook.com/#/profile.php?ref=profile&id=1668913216

[Ellen]

Wow, Hobie!  There you are, plunger, Haviland platter, poison ivy and all!  Fun!

I do FB with only family.  That way I know my cousin's cousin's husband in Maryland was plowing his way up the East Coast, getting people out of snow banks and making (probably) just enough money to pay for the truck repairs when his truck conked out at the end of the day.  ...  This is important, right?

My husband did FB for a while and said "yes" to everyone who asked, so it was local-information overload for him.  Down to City Council meeting notes and all.  Too much.  He dropped out.

I used to write letters.