Please explain Facebook to me

[Courtesy Flush]

I have to admit: Even though I've been on the internet since before there was anything here worth seeing, I just don't get the MySpace/Facebook thing.

Recently, I got an invite to be someone's friend on Facebook. I figured it might be a way to keep in touch, so I opened an account and added him as my first friend. Since then, two people who know me have requested friend status.

OK, all well and good, but they were already my friends. So why do I have them on my Facebook friends list, and what does that really mean? When I say "why do I have them," what I'm really saying is "why does anyone".

So I signed up and have three friends. What is supposed to happen next, and why is it a big deal? I know that some users like to pile up the friends numbers, even if it's a bunch of people they don't know and don't intend to communicate with.

Sorry if I just don't get it. I'm older than most of you.

[JCMach1]

1. I have reconnected with dozens of people I haven't spoken to in years

many of the apps are just silly...


Some however are cool like the travel one by tripadvisor.

[MrCoffee]

2. It's a way for people you've successfully avoided for years to find you

and send you fantastically annoying emails about inane crap, then get all kinds of pissy when you don't respond.

[Redstone]

19. BINGO! Just like classmates.com, yes? Boy, not only do you get it,

you know how to explain it as well. I salute you, yet again.

Redstone

[MsTryska]

27. wow - you are not kidding...

I somehow got on the radar of my high school class - holy crap with the exception fo a couple who no longer live in this country there rest are wingnuts and holyrollers - it's frighetning.

[stuntcat]

29. lol right

I added a bunch of people from high school and was just ashamed and disappointed to see who they are now.. then I started deleting them!! :headbang:

I like having DU people on my list though, and a few people from college.

[Unvanguard]

43. Sometimes it's best to be mean. I've rejected the friend requests of some former friends.

I just hope I don't actually meet them in person again....

[DS1]

3. I discovered an old friend is a winger

blames Clinton on the Georgian/Russian fight going on.

Sad.

However, it's much more pleasant than myspace. I had to get an account for work.

[ghostsofgiants]

4. If you ever have to ask whaty the point of something is, maybe that something just isn't for you.

[Fox Mulder]

5. I agree with what primate1 had to say.

Also, I'm wondering why the hell I have facebook as well. I don't do anything with it. It's just one more thing I check everyday, and I don't know why I check it. Nothing ever goes on in it. :shrug:

[Runcible Spoon]

6. awww. I'll add you if you need your wall spiced up a bit.

poor thing.

[Courtesy Flush]

9. See. That's what I'm talking about

What's with the mentality of piling up fake friends, and why is it a bad thing not to have them?

It reminds me of the high school yearbook signature thing. You get people you don't even know to sign the darned thing, just to fill the pages.

[Runcible Spoon]

12. it was a fucking joke.

obviously it's not for everyone. I guess you were picked last in gym class a lot; I can't think of any other reason for you to criticize something harmless so you can somehow feel more authentic and superior about your own social life.

[Courtesy Flush]

13. I know it was a joke

No reason for attacks.

But your post illustrated my original point.

Relax dude.

[Unvanguard]

44. We humans are vain, competitive creatures.

Sometimes about truly pointless nonsense.

But that's not all there is to Facebook. Not even close.

[Richardo]

7. I'm with you.

I just don't get it. But, I'm a well known geezer Luddite.

[Runcible Spoon]

8. it's nice to have a contact list like that for all sorts of things.

I go there if I've lost an email address. If you have people's profiles, you can look at their preferences, maybe it will help you pick out a gift. People who update regularly put activities on there; maybe you can find an ultimate frisby group or whatever.

It's helped me keep in touch with college buddies I would have otherwise lost. If I had to plan a wedding, the first thing I would do is go down my friends list and decide who to invite. Makes processes like that easier.

I've also had a lot of people from high school contact me. I missed the 10 year reunion but it's kinda cool to see what they're up to. People I fucking HATED back then even added me. I accepted them just to see if they turned around. One girl is now an environmental activist. Go her. I still won't forgive her for getting wasted and trying to beat up my friend Halloween '96. Stilettos, hot pink feather boas, and Gordon's in a plastic bottle, don't mix.

[Ivan Sputnik]

10. I see it

as a way to keep in touch with people I'm curious about, or that I wouldn't mind knowing what they're up to, but wouldn't have a reason (excuse?) to e-mail them or contact them regularly. I seem to know a lot of people who fall into that category. Hmmm.

[realisticphish]

17. this

Sure, my main friends i talk to on the phone, etc, but for all the people that i kind of want to know about, but don't care enough to get in RL contact

[redqueen]

11. i don't do the facebook thing... but i love myspace for finding new music

that's how i found gogol bordello and xiu xiu and a few other weirdo bands i'd never have heard of... well okay i might have, but myspace did it first.

[Courtesy Flush]

14. OK, I figured out one reason for all the friends

You can't see a profile unless the profilee is a friend. That sucks.

[T_i_B]

26. Depends on the privacy settings

Some people have open profiles. Most don't.

And what do I think of Facebook? It can be really great if used properly. When I first joined for instance I found myself getting invited to a an old mate for Uni's gig round the corner from my house (and I hadn't had any contact with the guy for years!).

And here's the DU Facebook group as well for good luck!

http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=2426871461

[Zavulon]

15. I have MySpace because I was basically badgered into it.

I have a Facebook account, but fucking hate it. I haven't used it in months and don't even remember my password. Couldn't care less. At least MySpace doesn't have stupid features like sending virtual drinks to people. My inbox has enough useless shit in it as it is.

[Mr. Blonde]

16. Among other things it is a handy thing to have

when your phone takes a bath and everyone's phone numbers go with it.

And just keeping in touch with people in general. Especially when you leave school and everyone is spread all over.

[Redstone]

18. What? I'm not the only one? You said:

"Even though I've been on the internet since before there was anything here worth seeing, I just don't get the MySpace/Facebook thing.
"

Don't feel so all alone, or so old (though I'll admit to being old myself); I've been on the Internet since the early-Nineties days of CompuServe; that may be why people like you and me have become so jaded: We've seen it before.

Redstone

[Courtesy Flush]

20. I was a compuserve and AOL member at the same time

In those days you had to join multiple services to get access to all you wanted to see. There was no real internet, so there was no crossover. You didn't have access to Compuserve stuff from AOL, etc.

I remember when AOL first started offering access to the internet at large. There was nothing there!

Remember paying $2000+ for a 386 with 8 mb ram :) :) :)

[Redstone]

23. Hah! When I bought my Power Mac 7100 in 1995, I remember paying $1300+ for

32, count 'em, 32 megs of RAM (4 x 8MB SIMMS). On top of, I think, about three grand for the computer.

Redstone

[Chovexani]

45. I had AOL 1.0, when it was still a Mac only service

I'm also old enough to remember September drama on Usenet.

Ah those were the days.

[flvegan]

21. I was on Prodigy in 1991, too.

I also don't get Facebook.

[Redstone]

22. Christ, then you probably also remember the different connection tones when you

went from a 16K modem, to 34K, then the ultimate 56K, yes?

(I may not have the specific stages of connection rates exactly right, but you understand.)

And HERE'S old for you: I remember when the connection rates were expressed as "baud" (as in 300).

God damn, that was painful.

Redstone

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

34. CompuServe! I guess I'd suppressed that memory.

I'm old, too; used that and Prodigy and AOL way back when, had something like a 1200-baud modem and an old Apple computer. It was painfully slow but it seemed cool at the time.

And I have never set "foot" on MySpace or Facebook. Can't think why I would. Guess I'm too busy yelling at the neighbor kids to get off my lawn.

[FloridaJudy]

24. Another old technophile here

But I have to admit that sometimes I miss my old BBS. Everyone was local, so meet-ups were easy to arrange. I remember when my local BBS first offered Internet access - as has been said, there was virtually nothing there. It was better to stick with Usenet, if you had a burning need to locate some piece of information. Even before the 'net, there were fellow geeks.

[ellisonz]

25. Facebook is great.

Myspace is awful.

[PassingFair]

32. I agree.

When my daughter was in India last year
FaceBook was my LIFELINE.

"Young people" use it to connect and up and
download pictures and videos that circulate
amongst their friends. I could see who she
was talking to an was reassured that she
was having a great experience. Pictures her
friends posted there were the only glimpses
of her that I had for almost a year.

I don't have much use for FaceBook for my
own "networking", but for teens and young
adults it is GREAT.

[ellisonz]

48. LIke totally.

Umm, yeah.

[UndertheOcean]

28. I can't , I no talk prehistoric

[mitchum]

30. It's all about the normalization of being a product and marketing said product

[cwydro]

31. I don't get them either.

:dunce:

[DU GrovelBot]

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[XemaSab]

35. I'm 30, and I don't get it either. Texting either.

It's wierd to look at people 2 or 3 years younger then yourself and really not understand a lot of the world they live in. :shrug:

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

36. Texting baffles me, too.

Instead of wearing out your thumbs, why not just call the person on the fucking phone and talk to them?

[XemaSab]

37. If it's something super short, like you were supposed to call someone and something came up

sending them a short "I'm really busy. Can I call you around 3?" is handy, but I see these kids faffing around with the phone like they're playing PacMan, texting kids who are 20 feet away. :shrug:

[Courtesy Flush]

38. I don't text, but it has its place

I've seen people texting in court and in meetings where they might cause a disruption by speaking.

I know a woman who loves texting because you skip all the chatter, and just say what needs saying.

Plus, if you have pre-paid cell phone service it can save money.

I don't use it myself. No one in my circle uses it, so who would I text?

[quakerboy]

39. Because

An unlimited texting plan costs 10-20 bucks a month, where an unlimited calling plan is more like 200.

I personally don't do the texting. But my sister, in her 5th year of college, cannot afford a home phone, internet, or anything of the like. She can afford the 10 bucks to put a phone on my parents plan, which comes with unlimited texting but virtually no minutes, split between a lot of people and a business. Other than a 30 minute drive in a dying car, its her only way of communication.

[Left Is Write]

40. I'm 42 and I'm on Facebook.

(MySpace too, but I rarely check in there anymore because it's too graphics-heavy and download times are too long)

Anyway...Facebook has enabled me to reconnect to some wonderful friends I've lost touch with over the years, most notably a group of friends I had while living in Wisconsin in the mid-90s. Losing touch with them always bothered me, and reconnecting after all these years has been terrific. It was almost as if there were no time lost at all.

I also found other old friends I am very glad to be in contact with again.

Also, I was a member of a private message board that went belly up a couple of years ago and whose denizens were scattered to the winds. Many of us hooked up again via Facebook and kind of picked up where we left off. It's been good.

My daughter and her fiance both have accounts, and it's a great way for us to stay in frequent contact, keep up with each other, and share photos.

Finally, Facebook has some great word games I love to play (Scramble, Scrabble, Word Challenge, Word Twist, and others).

[Unvanguard]

41. It makes communication a lot easier, especially if your friends are regular Facebook users.

I've had numerous highly enjoyable political and philosophical discussions through Facebook, for instance, often with people with whom I've barely touched on such things off the Internet.

[quakerboy]

42. they are different

MySpace is for 3 things.
1)finding new bands.
2)gathering as large a group of people with the same name as me as possible, because I was bored
3)artists other than/as well as musicians.

Facebook is a little different. I use it to keep loose tracks on people who I enjoy, but not so much that I feel a need to stay in constant contact. It allows me to know when my sophomore roommate is in town to play a show, or when that guy who lived down the hall started a really cool humanitarian relief group. It also allows me to talk to professors that I had who were really cool. I could go on. I see it as a way for me, who is not the most social person out there, to stay up and have a chance of continuing friendships that distance, laziness and time restraints would otherwise make unlikely.

[Kat45]

46. Can't you do the things you do on Facebook on MySpace?

I'm on MySpace but know nothing about Facebook. What is different about them?

[Monk06]

47. I found it is usefull in terms of keeping in touch with family but most of the add ons

are pretty juvenile and some add ons are
security risks IMO.