Facebook friend mining

Libby lost a good friend to technology a long time ago, and prefers to live in the real world rather than in an electronic bubble, but accepts that Facebook is an excellent tool for hunting down long lost people and admits to using it for data mining in the same way that Facebook does.

“I not only located my old friend, Toby, by Facebook but a lot of other people I hadn’t seen since leaving school,” laughs Libby. “So, signing up did give me the opportunity to search for old friends – but since their pages were essentially ‘dead’, no action for years – there was no point to me sending them a message.”

“Facebook is good if you are using it daily and keeping in touch with friends all over the world, but it is silly to use it when your ‘friends’ work next to you,” laughs Libby. “And it is ridiculous to use it hoping that a long, lost friend will find you because by the time they may locate your profile, you have moved on and your account is essentially dead.”

“After a week on Facebook, signing in every day to check on my workmate’s daily dribbles – and considering the remote possibility that someone from my schooldays may find me and message me - I’ve had enough,” says Libby. “I won’t delete the account – if that’s even possible – but I will set my privacy to the highest level so that my profile will not appear in any searches.”

“That way, I can get on with my life and will never have reason to sign in to see if someone is looking for me!”

“If someone wants to find me, they can do it the old fashioned way.”

Read more by Libby on this issue:

real-life friendship dies online

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Facebook friends

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Facebook friends

Libby has resisted joining Facebook ever since it rolled out in 2004, but since so many people have made their FB accounts so restricted that only ‘friends’ can see them she was forced into doing something she never wanted to do and now regrets that she ever let curiosity overcome her common sense.

“I’m a social animal and I’m a loyal and caring friend to many people - male and female – in my real life,” says Libby, “and because I never saw the point of conducting relationships online I’ve also resisted getting a personal internet connection.”

“For the past 10 years I’ve done all of my web-surfing and emailing at work, and I’ve watched the Facebook phenomenon grow – along with the world of Twitter – and never quite got it.”

“After being nagged for so long to join Facebook, it was a new guy at work who finally persuaded me to sign in,” laughs Libby. “He aroused my curiosity about all the good stuff he was sharing online – but there was no way I could see it unless I signed in, so I did.”

“And now, after giving all of my personal information to Facebook, and becoming one of this guy’s many Facebook Friends, I feel like I’ve been tricked into joining some massive social marketing scam.”

“All this guy wanted was another ‘Facebook friend’ to boost his ratings,” laughs Libby. “He had nothing in his pages that I didn’t know or haven’t seen already, and now he pesters me every day to sign in and look at this or that on his page when I work right next to him!”

“Now I most certainly ‘get it’, but I guess I knew all along it wasn’t for me!”

“This guy – and other people I work with - actually get a kick out of sharing photos and stuff through Facebook, but most of us do all that already through email.”

“I guess it’s useful if you’re not allowed to use work email accounts for private stuff – but then in a workplace like that you wouldn’t be allowed to use the Internet to connect to Facebook, or take time off to check cell phone connections.”

“So, is it just a fascination for technology that I don’t share?” asks Libby. “Or is it a way some people distance themselves from real friendships?”

Read more by Libby on this issue:

real-life friendship dies online

ideal couple split by net

Facebook friend mining

Single mom resents e-relationships at work