All these social networking sites are a great hit with younger people, I know, and I can sort of see why especially if you're travelling and want to keep in touch with everyone and you're too busy to email everyone separately.
BUT I find lots of aspects quite scary - that people share on it all sorts of personal info and open themselves to having their online identity hijacked. That they put onto it far too much from the real world that can be of use to murky characters and marketers alike - or are they the same thing? Does anybody really give Facebook their email address and password and let it search through their email contacts for matches amongst its members - please tell me nobody is so daft.
Apparently Facebook makes some money by selling online advertising space, but most funding comes from investors - who are they and why have they been willing to invest $40+ million since 2004. There has to be a payback for them. I don't like it. The wall and message facilities which are features of Facebook and no doubt of other sites do at least allow real personal contact with your friends but, while I understand the attraction as stated at the beginning of this blog, the whole idea of just putting stuff about yourself out there is on a par with the Christmas Letter which goes out to all - NOT real communication.
I did like the Public Library entries on Bebo - a great way to spread the message about libraries.
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