Thursday, January 21, 2010

Asking for Input: Should I Join Facebook?

So far I have resisted Facebook. Several reasons including its accessability to people trolling for information, its known security problems, and its addictive "crackbook" nature. Sometimes though, not being able to access a Facebook page is a research problem. For example, I would have liked to view the pages of those trying to save one or the other high schools in the Hickman Mills School District. Friends from Vermont have Facebook pages that would be fun to see. The pastor of the church I currently attend has a Facebook page, and he engages in interesting dialog about theology and the Christian life. However, I guard my privacy as much as I can, first for safety and to prevent identity theft, and second, to prevent the interwebs from biting me in the butt, as they have been known to do. (See this entry from Tony on KC Confidential for an example--look at the comments for the full effect.)

So I ask, should I join Facebook? Is there a way short of joining Facebook and having your own data out there that you can get on without sharing information and be able to look at the pages? Can you work in any way on Facebook semianonymously? Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated.

2 comments:

Ann T. said...

Dear The Observer,
I cancelled my facebook subscription and had them delete my page. But it is turning into a must for some things. Right now I am holding off.

So I am not your expert. However, while F-booking, I did see one page that expressly stated a limited purpose (career networking) and explained in advance that he would hold to that purpose.

It had a snarky effect. Later though, as I received a thousand trite messages from distant people who were announcing they were going to do dishes or some such, I began to appreciate the snark as necessary.

(If you can parse the above sentence, I salute you!)

I think Captain Schmoe had a thread on this, but it may not answer all your questions.

Also Cops 2.0 blog talks about how to handle this kind of media for police officers, who understandably would want to limit their exposure. You might also look them up.

Good luck,

Ann T.

Anonymous said...

just google "save hickman mills high school" you should be able to see the page without signing up.