Thursday, January 08, 2009

Facebook Family

My aunt requested me. Then one of my professors. Then my uncle. Then my piano teacher. Then another aunt. And now my dad is on facebook.

It might have been a little weird at first because Facebook originated as a college networking site, but the site grew at the dismay of a lot of people. Part of it was elitisim (which I sometimes guilty of) because Facebook started off with Ivies and top-ranked colleges. For some reason we thought the site would be ruined by people at lower tiered colleges, JC's, high school'ers, or all those other people who did not have an .edu at the end of their email address. I always thought this was funny because you would only go to the sites of your friends, so who cared if these other people were on it.

Moreover, why deny these people the benefits of facebook because they did not go to a certain school or were born in the wrong year. Yes, there are benefits other than being a time waster. Especially in a transient society where people often move away from their hometowns, it is nice to have a site to connect to old friends and classmates.

I am fine with the spread of facebook and my new family friends (and I am not just saying that because they read this blog too). My thinking is that if there is something on facebook that your family should not see, it should not be there, no matter what your privacy settings are. I am still amazed at what some people post on their facebook pages, blogs, and other internet sites, especially people our age who are applying or are new at jobs. I know that when I have interviewed people for positions, the first things I do are facebook and google them. No matter how secure you think the site is or how many aliases you use, if it's online, it will be found.

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