Selling out to Facebook!

What a way to start 2009, huh? It’s official – I have just subscribed to another trivial social-networking site, adding more cyber-clutter in my life. I’ve been saying an adamant BIG NO ever since my friend of 10 years, Mr. Vlad Guevarra who’s now based in London began bloody bugging me (and the whole barkada) to join Facebook early in 2008. Oh you should hear him promote the site. He really sounded like he’s got big stocks invested in the company. And honestly at some point I seriously thought that maybe Vlad knows something that we don’t since he happens to be an international Reporter for the Dowjones Newswires. Hmmm… maybe Facebook is hot in the stock market.

Anyway, so just a couple of hours ago I FINALLY yielded to Vlad’s relentless persuasion which started out as a cute cajoling and soon became an annoying marketing pitch. You know how it is when somebody tries to sell you something and even though you’ve turned them down over and over again they just wouldn’t stop until you finally give in just to make them shut up? Yep, I admit I’ve got such a low EQ on situations like that. So Vlad, YOU WIN! Ugh! And you know what Vlad’s first message was for me on my Facebook profile? He said, “Welcome to the Dark Side! Hahaha…” I swear the man is EVIL!!! :-)

So here I am with a new FB (that’s how THEY, the people-in-the-know, call it) profile and I practically don’t know what to do with it. To be honest, I just really signed up ‘cos I wanted to grab the photos that Vlad took with his camera during our party when he was home for the holidays. There was just no other way to get ‘em except through Facebook. Vlad wouldn’t have it any other way. And now that I finally have them I’m squinting my eyes on what else do I need this Facebook profile for?

First of all, I have semi-retired from social networking, which is after all the only essence of Facebook, just like Friendster. I’m saying semi-retired because I still have my Friendster account. I just don’t update it anymore. Well at least not as much as I used to before I got my Multiply Account. It even became an inch close to being totally abandoned when I finally set up my Memoirs of a New Missus on Blogspot. When Vlad learned that I’m not active on Friendster anymore he thought that I might be interested in Facebook. I said NO.

Friendster served a purpose in my life back when I was single. Back then, I was really active in the social circuit. I even went way pass the friends quota. I had friends in my Friends List who were really my friends and friends who I probably met when I was drunk because I could not remember them at all. Anyway, this was ages ago. And this is basically one of the major reasons why I don’t take part in the Friendster fuss anymore. I’m done with the frenzied social networking thing. I’m done with finding old friends, new friends, old boyfriends and new boyfriends. Some people may not admit it but social networking sites are like cyber soirees. Some people do actually expect to find a SIGNIFICANT OTHER on Friendster or Facebook or any of the other similar sites like MySpace. And although I admit that I got a few hook-ups through Friendster, I honestly didn’t expect that I would actually find my future husband here.

But fortunately Joseph was no random stranger from the internet. He was an “old boyfriend” or sort of. We had a “thing” back in college. And this is how Friendster worked for me big time. Anybody who’s had a Friendster account, or Facebook for that matter, can attest that they use these sites to find people. And one lazy afternoon in 2004 I typed in the name of Joseph John Palarca whom I haven’t seen since 1997 and lo and behold I learned that the guy is still well and alive in Cebu City. And the much awaited Part 2 of our Love Story started right then and there.

Although I can say that I officially semi-retired from Friendster after I got married, there were already a lot of reasons beforehand that made me want to delete my account… Oh I could not count the number of times that Friendster has gotten me into trouble. It was though Friendster that Joseph’s friends from church found out about our budding relationship which was still supposedly hush-hush at that time. There also came a point when I realized that there were a lot of creepy characters crawling around the Friendster sphere. Then like I said earlier, I had people in my Friends List that weren’t supposed to be there so knowing that I practically have complete strangers poking their noses into my life actually scared me a lot. I thought that I could mend that by merely deleting them but somehow that didn’t work. And another thing about Friendster are the Forwarded Spam! Argh! And it even annoys me when people who are actually close to me; people whom I generally consider as rational even fall prey to this con and send out these annoying “if you don’t pass this you’ll get bad luck” kind of messages. Anyway, it has just gotten to the point that Friendster has turned dirt cheap. I see it as very shallow now. I can’t deny the fact that I was once an addict but thank God I have become sober. Looking back I could just say that Friendster marked that feral era in my life. I’m done with it.

And now here comes Facebook. With my new account, have I put myself in another foot in my mouth case? I don’t think so. I still stand by my decision not to be active in cyber social networking anymore. I just really got that account for Vlad’s sake. But I’m a pretty positive person now so maybe one of these days Facebook will serve its purpose for me. For now I’m greatly content with my Multiply and Blogspot.

I have told Vlad that I really don’t need another cyber life to manage because I am pretty much very active on these two sites already. I really believe that Facebook and Friendster and other similar sites are very trivial. It’s just so High School! The interface and the elements are all slambook material. And I believe I’m done with all the frivolity.

My Multiply and Blogspot however are very utilitarian in a sense. I keep my photos in Multiply and I write my thoughts and Christian devotionals on my blog. That’s enough. With Multiply I can also control my viewership. So there are photo albums and other posts that are open for everybody and there are some that are limited to legit contacts. And while some of my photo albums are restricted, my blog is definitely open to all. As a Christian, I discovered that this is one clever way to minister, reach out and share the Gospel. Although my blog is still basically a personal journal, I do try to make it a point to inject my reflections with verses and to always write my thoughts and musings in a Christian perspective whenever possible and applicable.

Multiply also offers more features which are good for entrepreneurs, like me because non-members can access my public posts. That’s not possible for Friendster or Facebook. Its public posts are still limited to subscribers. To be honest I FEEL SAFE with Multiply. I don’t know but I just don’t feel the creeps compared to what I have experienced with Friendster. I can’t speak for Facebook yet but given its similarities, I really think I won’t get nothing more than what I have already milked from Friendster. Vlad says Friendster is so 3rd World. Well I guess that’s what Facebook is just all about – a 1st world version of Friendster. Oh don’t quote me on that. I’m not taking Facebook’s side. They can have all those Facebook versus Friendster versus MySpace debates on the internet for all I care.

So in short, there’s really nothing to it. Friendster… Facebook… fine I have accounts with both. What’s the big deal? I’m pretty sure I’ll have the same set of friends in both sites anyway. So what new thing is this triviality going to add in my life? NADA! ZILCH! NOTHING! I’m just joining in the bandwagon most probably out of curiosity. And besides I need a new avenue to promote that my Condominium Unit in Pioneer Highlands is OPEN FOR LEASE AGAIN. Let me put this Facebook profile into good use and make a post there... So Vlad, are you happy now?