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Wednesday, December 26, 2007

Facebook is like Hotel California, but you might want to leave

My conversation with a friend over the holiday was whether we were over the hump with Facebook and no longer enjoyed sharing ourselves online to the same extent. I have previously wondered whether Facebook knows what to do with an account when you die and per this writer, you are always listed, long after you decide to check out, figuratively or spiritually.

Have I grown tired of Facebook; not sure yet. It reminds me of friends birthdays so I know to send a note, but so does Plaxo and others. It lets me share meaningless tidbits of my activities or thoughts, like twitter,and it lets me be a voyeur to what others are doing, especially when they don't recall who has access to their info and who doesn't. And while it still remains a point for social interaction, it has lost for me a bit of its thunder. Share info with my friends, fine; share with the world, less fine. Use the info against me, absolutely not.

So my activity on Facebook becomes more a time waster than purposeful. The sharing of my info can be done just as easily with my email address; writing on my wall, simply graffiti with no legitimate point.

Is Facebook losing its luster, will it be surplanted by something more interesting. Or am I simply the wrong demographic, less naive to the openness of all the interconnections. And when I decide to leave for good, can I really check out.