Facebook (Web 2.0 Training)

Well it's finally the last lesson for the Web 2.0 training. I've had a facebook account for about five years now and have used it extensively throughout. It was nice when it first came out because it was restricted to students only. It helped me keep in touch with the people I had left after graduating from high school and with all the new people I met once at Mizzou. It's changed quite a bit over the years. I could do without all of the apps like Mafia and Farmville as I don't really care for computer games in general. I also was not happy to see older family members getting online. While I'm glad they are becoming more comfortable with the computer, I feel like it does take away from the experience of "just being yourself." I don't like having to worry about what an adult or employer thinks about me based on my facebook profile.

But complaints aside, facebook is often my preferred method of communication. I don't care to talk to people on the phone and instead prefer instant messaging, e-mailing, and facebooking (love that it's a verb now). The reason for this is that I can be much more brief and to the point without all of the small talk. And most people my age are prompt in responding. Whereas, I don't know how many statuses, notes, and groups have been made on facebook saying "I lost/broke/smashed my phone and lost all your numbers!" It's easier to find people online.

I am very happy that facebook now has its own chat application. When I was younger, all of my friends would rush home and chat away for hours online. My screen would be full with conversations with all kinds of people at once, allowing me to do other things at the same time as well. Now, fewer people leave their AIM running, I've noticed. So while I still have adium (a form of aim) and a windows live messenger now, I like to use facebook chat as well. I don't know how many times I've used it to talk to all kinds of friends. It still has some kinks in it, but it's getting better.

Anyways, yay for Net Trek and facebook!