Facebook

I never joined Friendster. Nor did I join MySpace. I didn’t really see any benefit to it. They were social networks, but seemed more stalker-ish than I liked…and I still just can’t stand the layout of MySpace. But when Facebook came out, it came as a huge benefit. Initially I used it as a way to connect with classmates…if I missed an assignment or didn’t know when an exam was, I could easily find the people in my class and send them a message.
It’s continued to be a great resource for me to re-connect with friends from high school and old friends from across the country. It’s also a great way to reach my clients (past/present/future) and get notice to people of things going on. BUT…sometimes, it can get a bit out of control.

In it’s simplest form, Facebook is great at ‘shrinking the world’. I love things like that, because it makes us more efficient. But now, there are all the applications that that just get in the way. Normally I decline everything other than friend requests or group/event invites. But I decided to let a few just sit there for a bit and look at what I had (above image). “Friends for Sale”…”Heroes Ability”…”Zombies Invitation”…I mean, seriously? I’m sure some people have fun with this, but there are some things that just seem to not be worth the time. So just so everyone knows, I mean no disrespect by not playing the Oregon Trail with you, I just don’t have the time to play. Plus, I hate clutter, so I try to keep my page as clean as possible.

On a similar note, there are some useful/fun things that aren’t that crazy. One thing I like is the “Friend Wheel” as it visually shows the interconnectedness of all your friends…interesting thing to see. So what’s your favorite facebook app? Maybe I’ll try it out…