sab | (no subject)

So, about Facebook. Yes, it's a whole new site that you have to register for, and yes, it certainly has its share of problems regarding policies, but no more than any other internet giant. Here's the thing:

> It's surprisingly easy to set up. Seriously, it's like a fully furnished apartment, and the furniture's, like, basic Ikea stock but perfectly serviceable for a sublet.

> It's also surprisingly easy to customize. It has these little external apps that plug in like widgets, and they're seriously drag-and-drop. And, strangely, turn out to be apps you want to use.

> But, mostly? Remember that kid in third grade, who was kind of a dork but you always secretly thought he was interesting, and that he'd probably grow up to be an architect or something cool? He could totally BE an architect now! He's on Facebook. And you could reconnect, with all that stupid school social grace gone, like grownups, and make new old friends. It's crazypants, I swear. Remember that incredibly hot camp counselor? She is also totally on Facebook, and you can send her a message and within days be playing Scrabble with her on one of your Facebook widget thingies. I'm telling you, crazypants. The possibilities are limitless.

Anyway, I'm not being, like, a commercial for Facebook, despite my current appreciation for the fact that it's a remarkably easy, friendly place, without obtrusive ads or spam, that can be used for a variety of purposes from tracking down college buddies to hooking up with fannish people in a real-name space (awesome!) to meeting random people to bite and turn into zombies.

The vague corporate entity control is still definitely present in some places, with their drop-down boxes for things like religion and sexuality and political affiliation, where I can't type in "Progressive" and am forced to present as "Liberal." And as a poly person it's potentially annoying that, for Facebook values of "relationship," you can't list more than one person as a partner.

There's also the low-lingering talk of privacy violations, some of which are probably true including the one where Facebook's been posting people's online purchases (from off-site vendors, like Amazon) on their Facebook pages. That's not buddies.

But for now, I'm grooving on it.

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But, mostly? Remember that kid in third grade, who was kind of a dork but you always secretly thought he was interesting, and that he'd probably grow up to be an architect or something cool?

OMG, I totally sent a crazy late-night Facebook message to one of those three days ago. I'm prepared to describe this aspect of Facebook as a bug, rather than a feature! Mostly because she hasn't responded.

But what a relief to discover that at least one other person considers this socially acceptable behavior. I worried that it was a wrong stalker no-life thing to do, and was prepared to feel embarrassed about it for the next two to three weeks. (What was that you were saying about stupid school social hangups and adult interaction?)

Friend me!

I'm on it. I happen to totally love it, for keeping up with my students. Also, I've reconnected with people I thought were gone for GOOD.

Friend me! I'm there under my real name, and I just blanked on your last name.

Remind me if we're Facebook friends? I'm losing touch of real vs. nom de plumes.

There's a facebook application called relationships plus that claims to make it poly-compatible... I added it to see what it was like but never actually did anything with it, still, it might be fun! :)

It's this fabulously weird intersection where all the different parts of your life can come to meet and play without caveats or explanations because we're all vaguely surprised to be there what with the zombies and the books and the apps and the photos.

I'm still grooving on it, particularly after harrassing a husband and wife team into joining for the zombies and having it take on a life of its own between them:)

At least religion lets you fill in. I'm sick of being "Wiccan" on networking sites.

> Remember that incredibly hot camp counselor? She is also totally on Facebook

Emboldened in part by your presence I SENT A FRIEND REQUEST TO PATTY WHITE thanks a lot.

Hey, I got your note!

I've been here for four years now - very quickly turning into an electronic spinster.

I never know what to do with Facebook inquiries. I can never tell if they are actually people I know or not.

~Innogen