How important is social networking for you?

[Gryffindorian]

I realize that people have different reasons for using Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, etc. While some may use them for work or business reasons, the vast majority of users most likely log in to networking sites as a means of personal communication. In essence, Facebook and other sites can be an extension of people's social lives.

I currently have two Facebook accounts: one primary that I initially signed up for many years ago, and one anonymous account that I recently created. My primary motivation for using FB: Boredom.

At first, I thought FB would be a great opportunity for me to reconnect with old friends, former classmates, and other acquaintances. As time went by, however, I came to realize that "reconnecting with people" wasn't all that important to me. Either I had very few things in common with them, or they made no effort to reach out to me and say, "Hey, how are you doin'?" Also, I thought, "If I didn't really care about or like this person then, why should I bother now?"

To some extent, I still use FB to share interests with current friends and family members, at least the ones who actually bother to read my posts or send me e-mails. Lately I've been deleting/blocking a lot of "inactive" friends (both past and present). Besides, many of my very good real-life friends and contacts aren't even into networking sites, but I love them just the same.

What say you? How vital are networking sites in your everyday life?

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

I'm on Twitter, but I don't really network my own life on it. I mainly use it to follow others, such as my favorite teams, my city police department, etc.

 

[Ashu]

Honestly, it's important but it isn't. It has definitely come in handy over the years but I am trying not to focus completely on it. It is definitely nice to have but it is important to find the happy medium between social networking and focusing on yourself.

 

[Gryffindorian]

I don't particularly care for the drama and the trivial stuff some folks complain about, though I admit I've done that occasionally. I also don't like self-centered posters and attention whores who have to announce every single thing they do, e.g., "Hey, look at me eating this ginormous cheesecake!" That's when I use the Unfollow or Unsubscribe option.

As far as posting my own updates, I put my contacts in different user groups so that I don't have to "broadcast" said updates to everyone on my list. That way, family pictures stay within the family and close friends, work rants are none of other people's business, and so forth.

 

[Scout101]

Not very. Facebook is interesting to just kinda follow people's lives without having to, you know, TALK to all of them. Just keep tabs on people and whatnot, and provide a little glimpse into your own goings on. I don't put a ton up there, though. No Twitter or any of the other services. Not going to pretend I'm spouting great wisdom, and not much interest in watching YOU try...

 

[MacLeod]

Not very, haven't visited facebook in months, don't use twitter etc..

 

[RoJoHen]

I am a Facebook whore.

 

[Chensams]

I mainly use Facebook to share pictures on the family and check up on old buds. I only friend people I would actually want to talk to or visit so my list is rather small.

 

[Relayer1]

I don't use Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn or any other sort of social networking, and I won't. I just don't see the point. Anyone I want to keep in touch with, I already do - anyone else doesn't matter.

 

[RandyS]

Not at all. Everybody important to my life (who are still alive, at any rate) lives within 20 miles of me, and I can see them any time, so there's need for me to use these things, and even less interest.

That said, some of the aforementioned people use Facebook, and once in a while, I'll read something THEY post, but I won't use those sites myself.

 

[Yoda]

I eventually created a fake Facebook account when I needed one to log into a website. I do use Twitter a little bit, mostly for news, not following real life friends.

 

[CorporalClegg]

I have a Facebook account that I hardly ever use, and I've never touched Twitter.

So not at all.

 

[Tora Ziyal]

I use Facebook to keep up with some out-of-town friends and relatives whom I wouldn't have much contact with otherwise. Also with a few people I've met online -- here, on another board, or on FB itself. By now I've unfriended all the old school friends. After the initial catch-up, we had nothing to say to each other. I also find FB pages to be a convenient way to keep up w/ local news and events.

So it's become much more important to me than I'd expected. During that almost two years that I was pretty much homebound, it was a real lifeline. Now I have to get out of the habit of spending so much time there and online in general!

 

[Garak]

Not very important.

 

[SeerSGB]

Personally? 0. But a necessary evil to keep up with some family and the occasional bit of professional use.

 

[Ood Sigma]

I don't use Facebook and I never will. It is a great source of humor though.

I have a Twitter account that I've had for 2 years and I have made exactly 0 tweets. I use it as a news aggregation for people and sites that I want to stay up to date on.

LinkedIn is the only network that I have a real account on but it is for professional, business use only. I figure one day if I ever switch jobs it will be useful for me to have kept track of my colleagues and contacts.

For a multitude of reasons, I have no interest in keeping people up-to-date on my life. The people who matter most to me will know the pertinent details any way either by living with me, being at work with me, or telephone/e-mail.

 

[Portal]

I'm a trekkie, I have no use for Facebook. Those contests on TV, the lucrative ones, you have to have a Facebook account to enter them and it's just not fair!

 

[SeerSGB]

I redid my Facebook page a few weeks (months?) ago and radically cut back on contacts and "Friends". Right now, its' only family and people who I follow who I'm actively conversing with. I've got people pushing for me to make a "public" page, and I point out to them "Why? It'd just sit there with nothing being posted on it".

Granted, I do love the drama of "You unfriended me!" when I cut someone that's either constantly sending game requests or spamming up feed with "Like/Share this <insert meme>" spam.

 

[PlainSimpleJoel]

Facebook is part of my life. It allows me to keep an update on certain things like tafe, the convention scene and my family. I sometimes might post a lot, while other times may just read what is going on.

Could I live without ... I don't want to imagine a life without it. But I found a way to be control of what I post. If I don't want someone (or a group) not see an update. Easy to do.

 

[R. Star]

I made a facebook account to "like" a local charity I support once since they seemed to think that would help them out... then never touched it again.