Facebook: Is there something I am missing? (facebook.com)

Member Name: liz_barratt

Product:	facebook.com
Date:	30/10/09 (8 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Good way of keeping in touch with people who are far away

Disadvantages: All the inane stuff, like throwing sheep, what's that all about?

I joined facebook a few years ago, after living in the states. I wanted to keep in touch with my friends there, and a group of my friends from the UK had joined.

At first I was quite addicted, however my enthusiasm has wained over time.

On the plus side I agree that it is a nice way of keeping in touch with people, and it makes sending messages through writing on their wall, or sending an email easy. The ability to comment on peoples status and their pictures is also quite nice. Another really good feature is the photo sharing tool, and this also allowss you to tag people in the photo, and comment on other peoples photos, which I quite like. There are also loads of games and quizzes to do, and you can challenge your friends to quizzes you have done, however I soon got bored of this feature (to be fair I am not really into games and things, but I was unemployed at the time, and it saved me from boredom, and made me feel connected to people).

However, on the down side, I soon got bored and fed up with the number of requests I got to do things like set up a veg patch, or play word games, and messages to say that someone had thrown a sheep at me, or bought me a beer (I wish), and although they did appeal to me at first, I am a bit baffled as to why they are so popular, the games are really simplistic, which is fine for killing a few minutes, but would not appeal to people who are into computer games (I wouldn't have thought), and people who are not into games would soon get bored (as I did).

It also worries me a bit when I see status updates like "Am away for 2 weeks" which always makes me think "come burgle my house then!" I am maybe a little paranoid, but I would be really worried if I had kids that went on facebook, as it appears to be the norm to put where you are and what you are doing every few minutes.

In summary, I think facebook has its uses, but I think I just don't get it. I like the fact that it makes it really easy to keep in touch with people and see what they are up to, send relevant messages, even if you don't have much to say (so it is excellant for "touching base"), there are other bits to facebook, which, as I have said I just don't get! I think by far the best way to keep in touch with friends and family if you are able to is to meet up and go for a coffee and a chat (or whatever), and I do think facebook stifles the face to face interaction a bit.

Summary: I like features of facebook, but I think there is something I just don't get.