I was invited to join facebook by a good fried of mine yesterday. After blowing a few hours and now starting to explore the various features of the product / service / cyber-societal landing, I'm still trying to define it's value.
Some people ask me why I have a blog. Perhaps I explained this in my first few postings, but I think I blog because I want to share my ideas, hoping to make the reader laugh or ask a question about their own lives. The entertainer in me also likes to tell of great movies or introduce what I consider fabulous music to other people who perhaps don't have the time or means to explore the vast world of new music. On the selfish side, I'm very proud of my heritage and the city I call home, so I tend to promote things of relating to England and the great things that go on the big T.O. I also used to write in a journal now and again, so I thought I'd put it in a more available format (although I really do need to back this stuff up) and open up some of my life a little more to family and friends. Pretty decent reason to blog, no ?
What about Linkedin ? Another site very similar to facebook in that in defines the six degrees of separation (a great movie as well) in our lives. Linkedin does this for your business relationships and facebook for your social side. There are clear values in these online services if you're looking for a new job or a new girlfriend. With the unpredictability of the business world, the saying is very true, keep your business network up to date. Linkedin appears to do this quite well and I'm sure it will be a very valuable tool when I need it. Good reasons to spend a little time keeping your business network up to date. The interesting side effect of Linkedin is that you get a mini news feed on changes in other people's lives. Honestly, it's just nice to find out what your old work colleagues are up to and in many cases, where their lives intersect with your timeline and business network.
I think this is the interesting side of facebook. My wife has a little bit of a problem with the news feed stuff on facebook that shows what other friends are doing online (e.g. adding friends or trivial items like changing their favourite TV show), but I think this feature is pretty intriguing. Facebook seems to be doing a good job of letting people get over the fear of sharing personal things with friends. I think people already recognize blogs and facebook as new new channels for self-expression. Funnily enough, these new online forums may just be what we need to regain that close connection with family and friends. Of course, the cyber realities can never replace real life personal interaction, but the way most of our lives are structured today, there is very little room for wine infused dinner parties every night of the week, or finances to share a pint with Brits and Aussies every month. Actually I think there is some opportunity to expand on these online network sites and get close to a feeling of a cyber get-together. Here's the idea...
i. Invite a group of friends to a online meeting place at a specified time.
ii. You could be joining solo or as a small group (i.e. your spouse or friend in your living room).
iii. The mood is set by perhaps a type of people invited, food, drink and of course a fine selection of music (BYOM; I'm still looking for an easy way to stream music playlists to a private group, kind of like hearing a playlist from Finetune simultaneously and everyone can add tunes on the fly).
iii. Then you just have a handy IM chat room available to lob in the topic of choice. Guest chime in with their thoughts, links are instantly looked up and posted, jokes are told, pictures are shared, favourites are discussed and links provided for future (sober) reference.
But I digress. Getting back to thoughts of facebook (and Linkedin), what about the new online etiquette rules that we are creating (as humourously pointed out in another friend's blog). What are the consequences of ignoring, or worse, rejecting an invite ? What if someone brings in a friend you're not keen on ? For the record, I don't accept all invites. For Linkedin, I feel I have to clearly remember working together (in whatever capacity), a place and time and perhaps even a face. For facebook, the general rule is simple, I've usually had a few drinks with the person and enjoy their company (or I connected in a way where I want to have a drink with them).
On the positive side, I think it's wonderful to be reminded of the breadth and depth of the relationships you've created in your life. I'm sure my wife could blend in an angle of photo scrapbooking into this so we could share some old photos along the way. It's just up to us, in our new cyber friendships to keep it all alive, expand it into new experiences and enrich our lives.
I'm sure this will be the beginning of a whole thread on this topic, so I won't attempt to exhaust all angles tonight. Food for thought !
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