Why I will Not Join Facebook
I’ve got mail. Lots of mail from people I hardly know, telling me they've added me as a friend on Facebook. These are the exact kind people known in Friendster as your 106th degree friend. You know, friend of friend or friend of friend…. Gotta catch them all. Heh. But really, if you are a friend, you wouldn’t be bugging me with this.
I have to admit, though, that the dark side does have its allure. What’s with virtual scrabble and the ability to cast Harry Potter spells on people you barely know. And everyone you know of speaks so fondly of it. Everytime I walk into my sister’s room, she’d be doing something on it rather than actually studying for her law exams. So there must be something to it.
But Facebook has been a source of major headaches for many companies. While others have adopted facebook as a motivational tool, many have taken the liberty to ban access to the site, citing it as the main cause of unproductivity and even harrassment.
My take on this is that Facebook can be a source of reprieve if you are stuck in the office all day. However, workers fearing the sack should not spend more than 5 minutes on it at a time. It might help you preserve your sanity but perhaps not your job. A former colleague of mine tells me that his new company even makes its staff take the "No Facebook from 9 to 5" pledge and all their computers are now bugged to prevent non-compliance. If you would regard this as scary, you're probably right.
Personally, I wouldn’t be signing up for Facebook in the nearest future, as I already have too much to grapple with. Things like psychology and physics would have to take precedence for the time being. Also, I do not feel the urgent need to cast Harry Potter spells on people (although mangling certain people physically to a pulp would be good). Nor do I wish to keep people in my list like some virtual pet.
So the next time you’re sending invites, feel free regard me as faceless.
I have to admit, though, that the dark side does have its allure. What’s with virtual scrabble and the ability to cast Harry Potter spells on people you barely know. And everyone you know of speaks so fondly of it. Everytime I walk into my sister’s room, she’d be doing something on it rather than actually studying for her law exams. So there must be something to it.
But Facebook has been a source of major headaches for many companies. While others have adopted facebook as a motivational tool, many have taken the liberty to ban access to the site, citing it as the main cause of unproductivity and even harrassment.
My take on this is that Facebook can be a source of reprieve if you are stuck in the office all day. However, workers fearing the sack should not spend more than 5 minutes on it at a time. It might help you preserve your sanity but perhaps not your job. A former colleague of mine tells me that his new company even makes its staff take the "No Facebook from 9 to 5" pledge and all their computers are now bugged to prevent non-compliance. If you would regard this as scary, you're probably right.
Personally, I wouldn’t be signing up for Facebook in the nearest future, as I already have too much to grapple with. Things like psychology and physics would have to take precedence for the time being. Also, I do not feel the urgent need to cast Harry Potter spells on people (although mangling certain people physically to a pulp would be good). Nor do I wish to keep people in my list like some virtual pet.
So the next time you’re sending invites, feel free regard me as faceless.
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posted by The Reluctant Chauvinist at
9:27 PM
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