Facebook

[snugglekitty]

A friend was recently mentioning that a lot of folks she knows have been migrating to Facebook. For those of you that like it, can you tell me about the appeal? What, if any, usefulness might it have for those of us who do not like to post things on the Internet with their real names?

Comments

[arianhwyvar.livejournal.com]

I use it purely for making sets of photos available to other people to see (usually costume/larp photos). I know people who use handles on Facebook instead of their real names, also.

[boy-wonderwolf.livejournal.com]

I use it differently than LJ. Facebook seems more appropriate for short comments rather than longer posts. Mine is completely vanilla even though I am friends with other kinksters. I've used it to reconnect with childhood friends which is kind of nice. If I want to write about leather stuff, I can do it here or FetLife.

[lady-anemone.livejournal.com]

Ah, yes. I've been hearing good things about FetLife - I'm more likely to join that.

I don't really have a lot of childhood friends I want to connect with. I can only think of a couple people in my distant past that I am out of touch with and would like to see again.

[gothtique.livejournal.com]

I have a face book account... but can take it or leave it.

I use it mostly for superficial stuff, to keep up with peeps, promote my business, play silly games.
Suppose it is a twitter with games and pictures.
I have not found it good for any kind of serious writing.

Likewise MySpace.
I use that to follow a couple of bands, but otherwise, it is not much use to me, I check it about once a week.

[nepenthedreams]

Not real names - you could make your name "Lady Anemone" if you wished.
That said, I use my real name on there, but I restrict my privacy so that only confirmed friends can see most of my information.

What do I like about it?
-short updates about what you're doing rather than long LJ entries
-easy to see quickly what people are up to
-never feeling like you have to "catch up" because you never could..no expectation thereof that you will read every status update or post.
-easy way to post a link to something with a short comment - that may not merit an LJ post.
-easy to share pictures, ability to tag pictures with people in them, which alerts them that you've uploaded a pic of them.
-there is a "Notes" feature - I dont' really use it much. it's like LJ.

Stay away from all the games and stuff - some of them are not good and most of them are a waste of time. Use the built-in facebook stuff and you'll be in pretty good shape.

That said I love the integration to GoodReads.

[lady-anemone.livejournal.com]

Thanks for sharing, that was a very cogent and complete response. :) It sounds like there is some overlap of purpose with Twitter.

[pink-pet.livejournal.com]

LJ is only for my kinky friends. No one in my vanilla life knows I'm here.

Facebook I use with vanilla friends and family. It's a great way to post photos on the Internet and know that only my friends will see them.

I joined when my wife's birth family found her (on MySpace actually, but they all use Facebook). It's felt like a safe way for us to share photos and get to know them. Not as intimate as a phone call (which she isn't ready for) but closer than a blog like Blogspot or Twitter.

My niece and nephew are on it as well, and now my cousins, so it's a way to keep up with what they are doing.

For other kinky endeavors I use Fetlife.

[notpiecebypiece.livejournal.com]

I don't use Facebook to share very private information -- I use it to share just kind of basic stuff you'd tell friendly acquaintances. People make updates about what they're doing, much like twitter, and I like knowing what's going on with people. The appeal is that EVERYONE is on facebook.

there are various privacy settings. I believe the default setting is that no one will find out your information--other than your name and your picture--unless you've confirmed them as a friend. that said, like the above comments, you don't have to use your real name.

[notpiecebypiece.livejournal.com]

p.s. there's also the amazingness of "lexulous" on facebook--scrabble online with your friends! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scrabulous

[supercheesegirl.livejournal.com]

The official Scrabble also has an app now--it's clunkier and slow to load, but has the benefit of being "officially" Scrabble to those who are uptight about such things (like my friend Dave, who refuses to play Lexulous).

[lady-anemone.livejournal.com]

thanks! That's good to know. There are a few people in the category of "everyone" I'd like to run into again.

Good info about the privacy settings.

[supercheesegirl.livejournal.com]

I agree with what most other people have said. My cousins are on Facebook, which is interesting, and I've found the one friend I'd want to see again from grade school, some people I'd want to see again from high school, etc. It also allows me to keep up with other folks from my grad school and other writers, which is nice.

I have my privacy settings set really high, so all people can see of me if they're not a friend is my default picture and some basic info. I've gotten friend requests from several people I never wanted to hear from again, but Facebook allows you to ignore the request and block the person so they can't see you at all. You aren't forced to be in contact with anyone you don't want to be.

I also keep my LJ entirely separate from my Facebook. I like Facebook because I can see what my old friends are up to, get to know my cousins better, and I'm in control of the flow of information about me. I use LJ in an entirely different way.

[lady-anemone.livejournal.com]

Thanks for commenting, it's helpful to know how you use it.

[rampala.livejournal.com]

Well, the original idea of facebook, once upon a time, was to be a sort of online yearbook for college students-- but you could find people more easily by looking for their picture, hence "Facebook." At that point in time, it would've held no appeal for someone who didn't want to use their real name.

However, facebook has transformed significantly since those days. Now anyone can sign up and you can use any name you want (although, I think you still have to designate a first and last name). There are applications for facebook made by fellow users to enhance your profile, play games, or annoy others as you see fit.

The thing that is truly great about facebook, beside that it's a huge social networking site and better designed than MySpace, is that it is highly customizable.

Some people use it strictly for business networking, and have little more on their page than a name, birthdate, and general location-- forget having a picture. Others have more on their page than you could possibly want to know.

I have a pretty full profile, in that I have a picture, full name, birthday, relationship status, interests, quotes, favorites, schools, and jobs all filled out. I also have a few extras that allow me to put additional information, such as SGO which allows me to list "queer" as a sexuality or select more than just "men" and "women" for "Interested In."

In terms of connecting with people, there is little facebook has that Twitter doesn't these days. Status updates on facebook are just like twitter updates, and you can post links, blurbs, videos, pictures, etc. You can also write on someone's "Wall" which means that any of their friends can see what you've written. What facebook has that twitter doesn't in terms of sharing, is the ability to upload pictures to picture albums. You can have albums of up to 60 pictures, and as many albums as you want. Additionally, you can share these albums with friends who are not on facebook, and friends who are on facebook can comment on pictures and be tagged in them as well.

Since facebook went open source, all sorts of extras and applications have popped up. Application invitations are one of the most annoying things on facebook. But there are fun applications, like Scrabble, or SGO, or Catbook, for example.

The other way facebook is highly customizable is in its privacy settings. You can create groups and specifically designate what pieces of information are public, what's private, and who can see certain things, but not everything (and what those certain things are). So I can make a group for my work friends, and make sure they don't see anything that has to do with, say, my relationship status.

The other upside to facebook is that many groups and events exist on facebook, and it's an excellent way to stay up to date with what's going on. As you know, I found out about the Quixotic party via Facebook.

So, that's my schtick about FB. I like it because it allows me to connect with friends from high school, college, work, and other activities all in the same place. I can share pictures, see pictures, and keep up with what's going on in people's lives... at least a little.