Here’s a thing. I’ve deliberately stopped this site from automatically sharing itself with Facebook – although I have left links with Twitter, Google+ and some others.
The reason for this is the different types of users I am associated with on these different platforms. Facebook covers all sorts of people – from work, from school, from University, from banding, from caching… – every aspect of my life is represented on there and it’s become a bit of a mess as a result.
Spending time on Facebook has become less enjoyable over time and I am finding that I tend to “thin out” my friend list as I notice that people become irritating to me. This may come over as being a little pompous or rude – but it really isn’t. I’ve started to believe that if I wouldn’t want to spend time with those people in a pub, or any other social gathering, then I probably don’t need them on that site either.
The other sites I mentioned before work differently. They have a less permanent feel to them Twitter, in particular, I really only have for teaching links. I very rarely read my Twitter feed and only really skim when I do.
The other thing that I find annoying about Facebook is that the more people you’re connected to on the site and the more “likes” you post, the more adverts are personalised. I don’t want to buy anything simply because some of my friends have. I don’t want to watch the same DVDs/TV shows/films as them.Facebook encourages widespread sharing by making the default settings for an adult’s Facebook page public to all. The site has made a concession when it comes to teenagers: the default setting allows basic personal information (name, networks, photo) to be
Facebook encourages widespread sharing – it creates a currency out of “likes” – just in the same way that the number of views a video has on YouTube is somehow deemed important. I am much happier watching something that only a handful of other people have seen, but thoroughly enjoy!
I love that the more distant parts of my family are on Facebook. I love that they tell me they feel that they know what I’m up to because of my posts on there. Will this year see me post fewer pictures of my cat? Or perhaps share less Doctor Who or Maths related things? I doubt it.
Will I think more about what I put on there? I hope so.
