The past week has seen me getting friendship invites from friends and colleagues on Facebook. Former colleagues whom I have not met for years and a few from overseas too, have suddenly appeared out of the blue which goes to show the viral effect of social media. These requests raised the very same questions when Twitter came on the scene. Should I join? Do I need to be on it? What purpose would it serve? I am still mulling over the decision.
If or when I join Facebook, I would be among the 150 million people around the world actively using Facebook and almost half of them are using Facebook every day.
Facebook is now in more than 35 different languages and 170 countries and territories. If Facebook were a country, it would be the eighth most populated in the world, just ahead of Japan, Russia and Nigeria.
Tell me, are you on Facebook? If so, how do you use it mostly and what feature(s) of Facebook do you find useful or compelling? I am still looking for a good enough reason as to why I would need to join Facebook.
Hi Happy Surfer.
ReplyDeleteFacebook - yes I am a member but, I only became a member to pick up on my grand children’s messages and photographs when they were off backpacking around the world.
For me I can’t see much point in or for it but I may well be the odd one out from all the millions of other Facebookers who us it. Same goes for Twitter, yes I am a member but up to now have never used it.
I say if you are going to get enjoyment by using it then go for it.
I stay with my blog, I stay with my web cam and stay with my messenger - those meet everything I want. - Mick x
I also have many friends inviting me to join Facebook, but I decide not to. I like to keep my life a little private, and I don't really feel like connecting with old friends again, especially some that I want to avoid. So that's enough reason for me not to join this social phenomenon. As for Twitter, I don't see the point of giving up to the minute details of what I am doing everyday. What I do is my business and I don't want to share with anyone else if I don't feel like it. To me, my personal blog is enough, no need for Facebook or Twitter.
ReplyDeleteHowever, I may change my mind later - it all depends. I can probably use Facebook and Twitter to promote my blog if I decide to start a second blog which aims at making money and not a personal blog.
Hi Mick, thank you for sharing your thoughts. Like you, if I ever sign up for it, it will be because I'd like to have access to view common pictures. Other than that, I do not see a need for it right now. But who knows, eh?
ReplyDeleteFoong, I share your idea of privacy too. No, you do not need to share every bit of what you do on Twitter. LOL! Frankly, I'm not active on Twitter either - I hardly update - though it's interesting to know what people do around the world or what's happening elsewhere - thru following people. Of course, you don't have to read everything that comes along and you can even not follow anyone - but that defeats the purpose of joining then.
Yes, if you intend to make money (and I suspect you are seriously thinking about it now?) you will need traffic and social media will come into the picture. But until then, enjoy the peace and quiet for as long as you can.
Thanks for sharing your thoughts, Foong.
I am a Facebook member, but I don't log in so often. Occasionally I send festive greeting. I played Scrabulous with my ex-colleague for a while but not anymore. The game is offline anyway.
ReplyDeleteOn FB, I can join certain groups (e.g. Buddhist groups), be a fan of someone or something (e.g. Faye Wong, Titanic the movie), or support certain causes, (e.g. global warming). All I need to do is just to click once or twice. But whether I have follow-up actions is another matter.
I think the greatest fun of FB is to add friends. Once they are added, you'll have to figure out what to do next.
KS, thank you very much for sharing what you do on Facebook which of course, adds to whatever (little) knowledge I have of this phenomenally-popular social media.
ReplyDeletehi klhappysurfer
ReplyDeleteyes, facebook is the 'in thing' haha.
i think connecting with friends is one. one can also just invite friends for event thru facebook (add event function).
u can also upload photos of yr friends & tag them or vice versa.
for me, fb is one means of reach to continue to promote my passion on beloved malaysia and loving singapore :)
Yeah, Facebook is popular, alright, and it recently won the "Best Overall Startup in 2008" award with Twitter coming in second.
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing what you do on Facebook, QC. Much appreciated.
I don't quite like Facebook as it's too public. Plus point is you get to upload loads of photos. I also dislike all those "poking"..etc stuff ppl send to friends. A friend was complaining to me that some friends on Facebook were asking why she never returned their "pokes"...DUH!
ReplyDeleteI know what you mean about it being too public unless it fits a need. And the 'poking' thing can be a stress-point, alright. People need to understand enough to give space instead of 'harrassing' to get a response. A gentle, friendly nudge once or twice is alright but constantly jabbing at the other person can be intruding. On the other hand, anyone can nonchalantly ignore the pokes. It's a free world to be able to sometimes say, "I don't care." Yep, a lesson we all can learn.
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing, MBL.