My annual "Should I join FaceBook?" thread...

[Vintage VFer]

The post about MIA VFers got me to thinking about FaceBook again. I was on for a few years under a phony name. I forgot that password and couldn't get on anymore. I think about joining, but am afraid I will be inundated by my friends' political rants and/or their endless grandchilden photos.

Who loves FB and why?

Who hates FB and why?

[JackieB]

I have a love/hate with FB. Yeah, you get the pics, political rants and stupidness. It's been a great way to connect with people, share things, and even get in on deals though. There's a secret VF Facebook group although I don't think it's very active.

I stay on FB just because I have enough friends and relatives to make it "worth it". Oh....you can "hide" people that get on your nerves.

Jackie

[edensmom]

I joined this year but honestly got bored of it within a month. My newsfeed was clogged up with the most boring crap (posts like "i have a tummy ache" and some people spend hours liking pics, etc...that will show up in your feed so you can't see the stuff you may actually want to see.) And yeah I had to hide certain people's posts.

I say skip it.

Now Instagram I love!

[Joni O]

Facebook is what you make it. I've connected with a lot of people through Facebook - old friends, classmates, non-local relatives, VFers, etc. I think it's a lot of fun and very rewarding.

- Many people complain of lack of privacy, yet they obviously haven't set their security to - well - keep their info secure. Nobody sees my stuff that I don't want to see my stuff.

- I accept Friend requests from some people and relatives so as not to offend them. Then I block them from seeing what I post. I think some people are trying for a record number of Friends or something. I'm simply not interested in knowing what some people had for breakfast, so I hide them from my Newsfeed. On the other hand, I can't imagine why some of the people who want to Friend me would care to or need to see some of the stuff I post. I block them from seeing it. I don't need my stepkids, my in-laws, my grandkids, my co-workers or my girlfriends' husbands seeing what I post, so I block them. I'm not even Friends with my own husband!

It's really not that complicated. The settings are easy to set. I have a group of people blocked from seeing any of my posts. I can easily unblock individuals from certain posts if I want to. It takes about one second.

I believe that the key is to get your security settings right so your stuff isn't visible to anyone but your friends.

I also like being able to Like certain pages - like video instructors and others - and be kept up to date on their stuff

It's just a way of being social and keeping up with people.

I'll be your Friend, Alta.

[deineira]

I am also using Facebook under a pseudonym. In my case, it's my cat. I joined FB because I have dear friends with babies and I like baby pictures. Because I'm there anonymously, and as a cat (his photo is my avatar), I don't really get invites from people I don't want to chat with because they don't know it's me. I also use that account to participate in private fitness groups for instructors I like (like Tonique, ART and TA). This has been a good resolution for me. Because I'm selective about my friends, I am not inundated with a bunch of stuff I don't want.

YMMV, and it depends on what your motivations are for joining whether it's a good investment for you or not, but after avoiding it for eons, I opened up an account last year and I'm happy with my approach.

[donnamp]

Hi,

I was thinking about joining this year, too, only b/c there just doesn't seem to be a way to avoid it and I think by not being on it, I miss a lot of details/announcements - both from friends and others (instructors, etc.)
But, I really don't want to be "found" by anyone - I'd rather be the one doing the finding and I'd also rather not hear/read about a lot of mundane details (such as what everyone had for breakfast!! )


Donna

[summer breeze]

I joined when my DD went away to college to keep up with her because college kids don't always communicate with their parents as often as they should but they never miss posting on FB. I do use a shortened version of my name so that I don't get a lot of friend requests because I'm not really interested in connecting with old classmates, co-workers etc. I do keep up with a few instructors etc but not all that much. If not for DD being away at college, I could definitely take it or leave it.

[wishiwasinhawaii]

I originally joined FB as a way to keep up with a dear friend of mine who was serving in the military. He has since retired, but I've stayed on as a way to continue to keep up with him as well as others who live far. I use a pseudonym. Once I joined, I sent friend requests to people I know and wanted to keep up with because there was no way they would have been able to find me. This way, I only see updates from people I'd like to stay in touch with. I am not FB friends with anyone I work with or anyone I don't know well. I also do not post photos of myself or of other people. I have posted scenery photos from vacations, but that's all. I just don't trust their privacy or terms of use policies.

I was using my real name for a short time and got so many requests from people I hadn't had any contact with in many, many years and had no interest in hearing from that I found it annoying. For me, using a pseudonym was the only way to go. But YMMV.

Personally, FB is a useful way to keep up with announcements about new products and to keep up with friends, but that's all I use it for.

[Harantwanders]

I've been on for years but since I don't work (much) anymore, I deleted many contacts and just left people I really care about. I like to see my relatives and friends on there and some long ago business associates. That is what I like about FB.

A few years ago I had to ban myself from playing those moneygrubbing games, though, as it is like an addiction. That is what I hate about FB.

[athompson10]

I have a dormant FB account. I joined in 2007 to see baby pictures of my niece, my SIL never friended me , so I never saw the pictures. I don't have a profile picture, my real name or any details about myself, and the one time I 'followed' Cathe to get updates on a pre-sale, I was flooded with waaay more information about it than I wanted.

I have enough trouble keeping up with phone calls, email, snail mail and my newspaper and magazines. FB is something for which I don't want to make time in my already crowded schedule.