Here's an example of Facebook when it goes horribly wrong:
http://facebookfails.com/
Like most of the things on that site can be put into two categories, dumb misspellings/poor word choices that are really pointless to make any big deal over at all, and the people who are just morons in the first place. The majority of the things on there are completely inconsequential.
And an
article on the potential long lasting effects of putting something on Facebook:
It’s amazing what a simple Internet search can uncover.
For example, in researching prospects for
The Hot List, I came across one particular player’s MySpace page that did not show him in the best of lights.
The problem is pretty straightforward: Jokes that are funny when you’re in your mid-teens tend not to be funny to other groups – in this case women, or most adults in general. But with some very quick searching, I found this prospect was not alone; some of his peers also left an unseemly electronic breadcrumb trail that, I would have to expect, could illicit some pretty damning questions when the NHL draft combine comes up in the summer.
Imagine – you walk into a conference room filled with scouts and executives from an NHL team you idolized as a kid and the first question is about a vulgar comment you made on the Internet.
Is it getting hot in here, or is just me?
Not to say that there isn't a problem with some of the things that make it online, but when you really think of the huge number of people that use the internet, it's really not that large of an amount that do these stupid things online. I know plenty of people who are actually sensible about what they have online, it's only the idiots who don't think about what they're doing. But then, even without facebook they'd still be dumb, and I'm sure find some way to make an ass of themselves.
I just think that people completely over-react about facebook and other such sites. Like that guy in the article said, It's not a new problem at all. Yet people go on and on about facebook and myspace.
And as for the original topic in the first place... If they don't want people to friend request them, why have a facebook in the first place? The point of facebook is a place to connect with people you know. Go ahead and friend request them, even if they were completely hidden before. If they don't want to be friends with you, they can hit the ignore button. Then you can move on with your life. It's not a big deal if someone doesn't want to be friends with you on facebook. Sometimes people only want certain people on their facebook, like only their close friends and family, or their close friends only, or maybe they like to be friends with everyone or something. The point is, it's not a big deal. The people that make a big deal out of it are the ones that probably fit into the idiots category I mentioned further above.
You know the best way to keep an employer from finding incriminating material about you on the web? DON'T DO THE STUPID STUFF TO BEGIN WITH. I'm amazed how few people (not you guys - just people in general) seem to get that. People are so worried about privacy and hiding their true selves from potential recrimination. Just be a decent person. Don't do stuff that would prevent you from achieving your goals. Don't maintain relationships that are likely to damage your future. How hard is this?
Sorry, this is silly (and a tad condescending). People makes silly things all the time, not necessarily bad things. Some people like to get drunk sometimes, some people like to play a bit rowdy, some people like do dress up silly. There is nothing wrong with that, nothing that interfere with "being a decent person". That doesn't mean I would like for my future boss to see pictures of me dressed in full klingon attire for Halloween, making silly faces with some mates, or simply the pictures of my last holidays. Different sides of my life, all decent and upstanding, it doesn't mean I want them mixing up.
Yeah, and people understand that. Usually the only real things that cause problems are things like underage drinking, or when there are countless countless pictures of someone being like trashed and passed out on the floor from drinking WAY too much all the time. It's when things get really ridiculous that people start to llok down on that. I have plenty of pictures of myself just being silly and stuff with my friends. Guess what, I'm friends with coworkers and some of my bosses on facebook. I even hang out with a few of my coworkers and one of my bosses outside of work. People, like employers and such, do understand the difference between work and personal lives. They can be very separate things. It's just when things get totally ridiculous and out of hand that it starts to become a problem for employers and people to see. "Oh, my employee who is legally aloud to drink has pictures from a birthday party with some of their friends at a bar posted. Oh look at those faces they're making! Why, he looks like he's having a good time being funny with his friends! Ye gawds! Where are my pink slips!" Um, no. People have more since than that. And if they don't, then they too can be added to my category of morons from farther up my post!
In conclusion...
Facebook+idiots=FAILTIME
idiots+life in general=Fail as well
Facebook+the average joe=No big deal
Edit: My post comes off as rather angry. It's not directed at anyone here... sorry...
But for the most part I have remained anonymous on the web. I may not have anything to hide but at the same time I would prefer to keep myself as private as possible. Anonymity is wonderful. I enjoy being a ghost.
) And I've never tried any of the games. I spend enough time communicating on Facebook without getting into the side stuff. What I love about it is that I do get to reconnect with friends I had lost touch with and keep in touch with extended, distant family. I get to see pictures I wouldn't otherwise see. I find out friend and family news that I otherwise wouldn't know at all, and we all interact much more than we would without Facebook.
