Tuesday, June 12, 2007

Facebook and identity

Howard Weaver has started a Facebook group for McClatchy. (Registration required, you can use your work email address if you're not already on Facebook).
He's my first friend. Trisha O'Connor from Myrtle Beach is on there too. She was in Charlotte long ago.
Try it out if you're brave, though the time involved with creating and choosing an identity there, along with maintaining a profile at LinkedIn, seems unwieldy and overwhelming.
LinkedIn is a business-oriented grownup kind of Facebook. Many people whose work depends on networks use it heavily. Like: real estate people, IT people, investment advisers, consultants.
The addition of Facebook to the mix raises all kinds of questions about self-awareness, defining your community, and even spying on your kids. Unlike LinkedIn, Facebook users generally show pictures of themselves. Rather daunting when one is gray-haired.
Bonus: If you have a UNC email address and join the UNC network on Facebook, you can see the wall postings of your kids' friends who are going to that fine institution. Gads, say the kids. But they need to be aware....
I'm unsure whether UNC alums with alumni email become part of the same network as current UNC students.

Facebook appears to have been a place for folks of a certain age previously. It'll be interesting to see whether more experienced folks go there, and how they interact with the younger ones.

2 comments:

Amy F. said...

I know that in Missouri's facebook network, alumni email addresses grant you the same access as student email addresses. I imagine it's the same at UNC.

Andria said...

What's amazing to me is how much emotion is tied into this app., much more so than LinkedIn.
Yes, I'm a grownup, but I'm so thankful to have some friends now...
And I'm constantly rethinking that picture of me....I still might substitute a picture of me in my "Sunday-go-to-meeting" hair bun.
Just shows that visuals carry emotion. Words like "friends" carry emotion. And emotion can sell papers, apps. and information.
And you should've heard what Jackie B. said about the pictures of folks in the McClatchy group....
Holly F.'s comment was telling too, and repeatable here: There are so many sites out there like Facebook that she doesn't even try to keep up with them. Even though there's emotion there, people aim to balance their lives and time.