Facebook started off in 2004, originally designed for college students. A lot of people complained who couldn't join, but it soon became available for everyone. That kind of defeated the purpose, but I guess they had to step up their game to compete with myspace. Myspace has almost 110 million users and is known as the largest social networking site on the internet. I'm probably going to use the word creepy several times throughout the rest of my blog, and I have a good feeling the majority of readers, those who are active users of either network, will understand what I'm talking about. I feel like a large amount of user profiles on myspace are annoying bands and/or creepy 40 year old men who enjoy lurking young girl's profiles. That is probably a biased opinion and not really fair, I get it. But nonetheless, there is a reason myspace consists primarily of one generation; once you hit a certain age, you should probably stick with your generations form of communication. I apologize to anyone in a band who uses myspace as a promotional tool, but tone it down a few notches, we're not all interested in being your friend and checking out your shows.
I liked the concept of facebook being strictly for college students. It was less creepy and seemed more plausible as a social networking site for college students. I have friends on facebook who don't go to college, so they probably won't like this next opinion, but you win some and you lose some. There needs to be restrictions to avoid the creepiness, and even though facebook is ten times better in my opinion, it seems to be becoming more like myspace everyday. Each site has so many similar applications, soon it's going to be hard to tell them apart.
We can probably all agree that facebook can be pretty distracting between pictures, bumper stickers, games, etc., but that's kind of the whole idea. I've waisted so many hours of my life doing pointless things on facebook, and I love every minute of it. We need those simple guilty pleasures in life that are insignificant. I don't always want to pick up a book or a newspaper when I'm bored or need a break from school. Sometimes I just need to do nothing that is entertaining. The idea of facebook being a place for college friends and a source of networking with people in your classes or field makes is seem less insignificant.
I received a friend request from a family member, many many many years older than me, and I just can't find the point. Older people should have the same rights as younger generations, blah blah, but why do they want all the same rights? I understand certain parents joining facebook to stay in contact with their kids and their kid's friends, and professors who want to stay in contact with students and other faculty, but if you're over the age of 40 and get the same pleasure browsing photo albums and bumper stickers as a college student avoiding writing a paper or waiting for class to end, you might want to reevaluate the time you have on your hands. I like the idea of my parents not understanding certain things I do, they're not supposed to. That's the difference between generations, and that's what makes things interesting. If we listened to all the same music as our parents, wore the same clothes, and were friends with all the same people, I would probably want to cut off my big toe. I love trying to explain things to my parents and seeing their reactions, or watching them attempt to text message, or trying to make sense of the things on the internet that I find amusing; it's amusing in and of itself.
Fun post. As one of those 40somethings on Facebook, I wish they would fine-tune the system - allowing us to change settings for particular groups. I get posts from high school friends that I don't particularly want to share with students. We end up censoring for multiple audiences (Or, at least we should).
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