Face Book

[Digital M@]

Can someone please explain the benefits/appeal of Face Book. I have not dug into it, but I understand you can create networks of friends and share photos in a secure site, but we can all IM, Text, and email firends at will. So what does Face Book site do and what is the appeal?

 

[LightPhoenix]

I'm not sure there's any real benefit to it, myself. I'm mostly against the stalker websites, and it bugs me to no end that instead of sitting and talking to me, someone would rather get to know me by looking up stuff on a website.

That said, one of my professors made us join a Facebook group, which is how I got on it.

It's nice that it is generally limited by college - I know that anyone in the SU group goes to SU or works there. It's also, IMO, the nicest looking and most elegant of the stalker websites. As my friend once said, "MySpace makes the html jesus cry."

 

[Jdvn1]

It's essentially a limited website where you can share photo galleries (and other things) and carry extended converstions with friends, as well as provide a way for friends to keep in contact with you, possibly over a long distance (by providing a forum for discussion and also possibly personal contact info).

With IMing and email, you have to take the time (and bandwidth) to send potentially multiple emails/messages... having a sort of 'personal website' makes the process much easier. And, it's arguably better than a website because you don't have to know anything about making a website. You just type and upload information and you're done.

In good such services (Facebook is one of many), there are security settings such that not just anyone can see all of your information, and you can limit who has access to your information.

 

[Queen_Dopplepopolis]

Facebook was very valuable to me when I was in college because it was like an addressbook for essentially all of my classmates. So, if I ever forgot an assignment, I could just look up the class and find fellow student to IM, email, or otherwise contact. Moreover, it allowed me to meet new students when I transfered from the Univ. of South Dakota to American University in DC through the "Groups" features. So, I was able to find other gamers, other Arrested Development fans, etc.

Now that I am not in college, I use Facebook to keep in contact with fellow alum, as well as people that have not graduated. Email addresses, snail mail addresses, IM contacts... they all change, but with Facebook, I am able to update all of my friends without much trouble.

All that said, I may check my account once/month.

 

[Digital M@]

Thanks for the input. I think it may work for me, I just moved across the country and have friends from Coast to Coast as well as over seas that I would like to keep in touch with. The issue is most of us are in our late twenties/early thirties and getting them to sign up could be a challenge. But, IMO, if it helps me say currnt with just a few people, it would still be worth it. I have lost touch with all of my military friends and most of my college friends as we move, change emails etc and don't want it to happen again.