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I finally created an account a few days ago, and I already have over 50 "friends". About 10 of them are family, and another 10 are good friends that I keep in touch with. The rest are long lost classmates, people I liked and hung out with situationally in various stages of my life, and the people I work with.

It's neat to connect with all these people, and it is certainly easier than organizing it by e-mail. But it forces me to redefine "friend". I've got retained 1 or 2 good friends from any given stage of my life -- 2 good friends from high school, 1 good friend from college, 1 good friend from childhood, etc. Everyone else was more of a situational friend. I'm going to take the friend thing somewhat literally, though -- I don't need to have 1000 friends.

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@Aedes,

LOL, I too have a facebook. Just make sure you watch those privacy settings as they are meant to be very loose and tricky. This may interest you.
YouTube - Do you have Facebook?

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@Aedes,

I tried to stay off of Facebook, but I became an editor-in-chief of a newspaper, and needed a way to stream line communication with friends. Now that I have moved on from that campus, Facebook is a fine way to stay in touch with friends back home. But another phenomenon happened. I have reconnected with some good friends I had lost along the way.

As for the privacy thing, it doesn't bother me all that much. I don't post sensitive information (address, phone number, etc) and with companies like Choicepoint out there, documenting what type of pizzas you order from Domino's, or what type of groceries you buy with you member's savings cards, or what you purchase with your credit cards, I have realized it is futile to try to avoid having information about me sold to the highest bidder.

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@Theaetetus,

wow 50 friends :bigsmile:
I only have three and one is my teacher makes me feel kinda lame.................nah its just facebook

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@Aedes,

The only people I'm "friends" with are those I know personally, so I'm not especially concerned about privacy. I don't put my phone number or address there, but that's only because I don't see the point. On the other hand, on a place like this forum, I don't know a single person personally, so I'm much more reluctant to share personal info.

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@Aedes,

Facebook's an essential asynchronous chat medium with my friends. So, gots to use.

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@Aedes,

Don't post anything political. When the islamists and/or leninist-fascists take over the world, they send you to work camp for anything they don't like you said. Sad

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@EmperorNero,

NoEmperorNero wrote:

Don't post anything political. When the islamists and/or leninist-fascists take over the world, they send you to work camp for anything they don't like you said.

Well in two posts you have made sweeping biased political statements, so watch out us socialist fascists have your card marked.Come the revolution brother your for the salt mines..

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@Aedes,

I have 12 friends on Facebook. I never add anyone that I have never met (face-to-face or elsewhere on the net) unless we are collaborating on something. I just don't understand why someone would have hundreds or thousands of "friends"...it's pretty pointless unless you're trying to promote something (like a book you wrote or a website or something.) But then there are people simply trying to promote themselves in this ME culture.

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@FireWalkWithMe,

FireWalkWithMe;76132 wrote:

I have 12 friends on Facebook. I never add anyone that I have never met (face-to-face or elsewhere on the net) unless we are collaborating on something. I just don't understand why someone would have hundreds or thousands of "friends"...it's pretty pointless unless you're trying to promote something (like a book you wrote or a website or something.) But then there are people simply trying to promote themselves in this ME culture.

They can actually promote much more. It's a good way to connect with people that's for sure.

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@Aedes,

I find it pretty dehumanizing actually. I don't really feel that it's truly "CONNECTING" people-- on a genuinely emotional-human level. I think people were more connected prior to social networking sites, when they used the time that they are now behind a computer screen staring at Facebook/Myspace, hanging out in person.
But sure, you could meet people you'd otherwise not have meet.

**And let me add that I am on Facebook because some "friends" have gotten to the point where if I'm not on Facebook, i have no other means of keeping in touch with them...which I find depressing and even humiliating.
It's really made me question who are my true friends. That is the reason for my putting quotes around the word.
And maybe it's just me. I don't really have any close friends. No one ever calls me and rarely do I get a personal e-mail. I get to the point where I feel like when I'm on the internet, I'm staring into some kind of void and it makes me very sad to even discuss this 9but I think it's pretty relevant since the net is such a big part of people's lives.)

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@FireWalkWithMe,

FireWalkWithMe;76141 wrote:

I find it pretty dehumanizing actually. I don't really feel that it's truly "CONNECTING" people-- on a genuinely emotional-human level. I think people were more connected prior to social networking sites, when they used the time that they are now behind a computer screen staring at Facebook/Myspace, hanging out in person.
But sure, you could meet people you'd otherwise not have meet.

Well, without Facebook, I would have lost touch with people in previous cities I have lived in. I hate talking on the phone, so Facebook allows me to chat with people, plan get togethers, and stay posted on the happenings of my friends lives. As a college student, this would be very difficult because I don't have time to drive around the state visiting with everyone, and I don't have time to send written letters. Not to mention, I don't have to keep track of everyone's address either.

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@Theaetetus,

Theaetetus;76143 wrote:

Well, without Facebook, I would have lost touch with people in previous cities I have lived in. I hate talking on the phone, so Facebook allows me to chat with people, plan get togethers, and stay posted on the happenings of my friends lives. As a college student, this would be very difficult because I don't have time to drive around the state visiting with everyone, and I don't have time to send written letters. Not to mention, I don't have to keep track of everyone's address either.

Yes, I understand what you're saying. But you have to realize that before Facebook and all these sites, even prior to the internet, people were in the same exact situation you are in...and still somehow managed to keep in touch. Maybe not in constant contact, like we are in now because of these sites, but they did manage to keep in touch. Remember having phone books and address books? I mean, I bought one a few months ago and started filling in contacts and was shocked at how skimpy the info was... most friends I knew of only their e-mails..and maybe a cell number. Most of my contacts were just family members.

I guess we all just expect everything to be so much easier. Less work for us.

Like I stated, maybe the root of the problem, personally, is just ME. Maybe because I don't have a large groupd of friends I am seeing this from a different perspective.

1 Reply

@FireWalkWithMe,

FireWalkWithMe;76145 wrote:

Yes, I understand what you're saying. But you have to realize that before Facebook and all these sites, even prior to the internet, people were in the same exact situation you are in...and still somehow managed to keep in touch. Maybe not in constant contact, like we are in now because of these sites, but they did manage to keep in touch. Remember having phone books and address books? I mean, I bought one a few months ago and started filling in contacts and was shocked at how skimpy the info was... most friends I knew of only their e-mails..and maybe a cell number. Most of my contacts were just family members.

I guess we all just expect everything to be so much easier. Less work for us.

Like I stated, maybe the root of the problem, personally, is just ME. Maybe because I don't have a large groupd of friends I am seeing this from a different perspective.

anyone who thinks they have a large group of friends should seriously examine what criterion they are using for the definition of friendship.

i had a paper pocket phonebook until i realized i didnt know who half the people in there were. the other half were plumbers, electricians, tv repair shops, etc etc.

my email address book is filled with people but the only one who used to write me regularly died almost a year ago. she was the only true friend i ever had that fits my definition anyway.

so firewalk, you are young-we start out with less contacts, then we make so many, then they all start to die and we are old. what can i say....in the end it doesnt matter.

there are some people i met only once that i will remember all my life-they were not friends, just people i will always remember, and not always good examples of people either because we can learn more sometimes from seeing what happens if we make wrong choices. i hope i am someone like that to at least one person on earth.

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@Aedes,

I dont think it's about making it easier for us to communicate but almost a revolutionary new way of communicating, i think it's great that you can have a conversation with somone on the other side of the world, I think it's pretty amazing that you can contact anyone you like, noone is out of reach.

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@Aedes,

I have a very strict definition of friend as well, but many of those people live hundreds of miles away from me. Because of Facebook, we can still keep in touch, without having to devote much time to it. We are all very busy as students, professors, or former students trying to make our stamp on the world, but it is nice to be able to send quick messages back and forth, joke with each other, or share random things with very little effort.

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@Aedes,

I finally got a facebook page, well actually my wife made me one, and now its mostly filled with people I know that she likes. lol

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@Aedes,

Well, I met my girlfriend with the help of Facebook, since we went to high school together, but didn't know each other back then 10-15 years ago, and she saw me in the library on campus at my University, and then looked me up on Facebook.

So, Facebook definitely can have many benefits, but some people just use it to irritate the hell out of everyone.

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@Theaetetus,

I can irritate you if you want to be my facebook friend, lol, i know you about as well as I know half the people on my page

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@Aedes,

They need to invent an ignore list.

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