Social Networking – Why Bother?

Ok, so last year about this time I signed up for both Facebook and MySpace.  Oh, and I just remembered I think I’m on LinkedIn as well, but I’m not sure… Other than putting up whatever basic info they query you about when you’re first setting up your space, I don’t think I’ve ever really gone back.  I just don’t see the point.  I guess I’m either too old, too individualistic (read: I could really care less what other people think/do – esp. what they’re doing “right now”), or too PC/Web literate to care – I mean really, I own three domain names already – not counting this blog, so why should I bother with social networking? If people are looking for me, they know where to find me. And if they don’t, I probably don’t want them to find me anyways, LOL.

I mean honestly, I’ve been cruising the internet since before the World Wide Web was even around.  I’d bet a lot of today’s social networkers can’t even fathom an internet without the web, but that’s how it was for nearly two decades.  Social Network sites just seem like poorly implemented, and proprietary to boot, IRC (Internet Relay Chat) channels to me. Throw in annoying to configure and maintain and that makes their third strike and they’re outta here!  I’d much rather just deal with my blog, email, and IM software like GoogleTalk or Yahoo Messenger, than klunky, overly constrained,  “social” webpages. 

Maybe it’s just me or my non-groupie mind-set.  Even in MMO’s I usually solo my way through the game rather than go looking for social interaction.  If I want social interaction, I’ll go to a “MeetUp” group or just out to a bar or something where I can actually talk to folks “face-to-face.”  Dunno, guess I’ll just have to chalk that one up to “I just don’t get it.”


Comments

Social Networking – Why Bother? — 4 Comments

  1. Thank God. I thought I was the only person on the planet that didn’t have Facebook and MySpace and LinkedIn and Twitter and and and. I can barely think of enough to say to keep a blog going. I have (younger) family members that keep pushing me to do Facebook, but I simply don’t see the point. I say what I have to say on my blog. They can read it or not, comment or not; that’s all the “social” I need.

    Now I see Hulu added social networking. It’s hard for me to describe how little I care what other people are watching.

    Guess I’m just too old.

  2. Here’s number 3 to say the same. A friend insisted that I sign up for FaceBook & I did, but oh, what a lot of bother, I’ve looked at it a couple of times, but much prefer the straightforwardness of my daily blog entry.

  3. I guess it works for people that don’t want to keep up a blog, or don’t have/want their own webpage/domain. Those sites make a nice central connection point for people like that. They (FB, LI, MS) provide a webpage (constrained to their format and ads) without peeps having to buy a domain name or whatever.

    But if you’ve already got a blog and/or your own website, it’s just one more chore to maintain and deal with. At that point, it just becomes superfluous.

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