What Facebook Has Taught Us

1-Our lives are not that interesting.  2-Other's lives are not that interesting.  3-Even boring people are sometimes interesting.  4-Corporations are not our friends.  5-Businesses can be liked.  6-Facebook is no substitute for real interaction.

I think I joined Facebook in late 2009 - a little late to the party.  I was aware of it much earlier when it was restricted to college students as I had an intern from The University of North Carolina.  It seemed like an interesting concept, if a little frivolous.  I recall the intern commenting how she used Facebook as her primary communication method with friends (real) - email was only for adults.  Yeah, that one made me feel a little old.

Shortly after the intern left to go back to school, Facebook opened to anyone older than 13? who had an email address.  Many people at work joined, but the whole concept still seemed trivial, if interesting to most of us - a belief which is still validated.

I joined more out of boredom than anything else.  On a cold miserable day late in the year, I was looking through little-used parts of my Blackberry and found the preloaded Facebook app.  I joined and it told me I had no friends.  I can only assume that Facebook the business didn't realize what a cold reception that was.  My first posting (to no one) was a quote from Hunter S. Thompson.
I was shocked when a few days or so later someone sent me a friend request.  A previous acquaintance had found me after joining, this lead to a former coworker, recent coworkers and eventually friends (again, real).  By Facebook standards, I still have relatively few friends, and some of them aren't.  I suspect many Facebook Friends are as real as Casper the Ghost.

Like many people enjoying new things, I initially posted stuff frequently at first.  For most new users I encounter, this is typical.  The situation is reminiscent of the mid '90s where new PC owners became adept players of Microsoft Solitaire and Minesweeper (ahhh, windows 3.1).  There appear relatively few dedicated users who continue prolific Facebook posting.  I even had a Farmville Farm for the first six months or so.  Eventually my Farmville Farm began to feel like work instead of fun - always harvesting those damn crops, so I sold off everything and posted a sign in the middle of my farm saying it was seized for failure to pay taxes.  I kept the application active for quite some time until there was a Zynga permission change that I couldn't stomach.  Thankfully, I can turn off most Facebook game posts as they are absolute chaff (pun intended).

I now log on to Facebook about once a day.  My posts are fairly rare and likely to be nonsequiturs or hidden/vague references to things going on.  I do enjoy it as a way to see what people who I rarely see are up to, but it is often just a tool to joke or insult current friends and coworkers.  I have to be careful at times due to some of my "Friends" (young nephew, work management, etc.).  This is not a big deal since I won't post anything that I wouldn't care if the world saw with only minor embarrassment, and my profile picture is either a cryptic picture of me or a picture of something which tangentially references my mood.

What has Facebook Taught us?

1. Our lives are not that interesting.  After the initial burst after joining Facebook, there is only so much that can be said.  At times things said on Facebook are just extensions of what was said in person or "reshares" of what others have posted.  Most of our lives are dominated by the truly mundane and Facebook has demonstrated that in spades.
2. Other's lives are not that interesting, even people we thought might be interesting.  Everyone knows individuals who we thought held captivating lives.  Since there seems to be significant intersection between this group and the subgroup of prolific posters, we now know this is not true.  Compellingly interesting people do not have the animation to post much on Facebook.  Posting pictures of the perfect cherry-cheese danish or the endless quips of the children or pets serves to demonstrate the lack of honest activity.  
3. Even boring people are sometimes interesting.  Since I see things from people I often don't interact with closely, I've been fascinated by some of the hobbies people have or what some people do on vacation.  If most of our lives are dominated by the mundane, things like vacations or other big events or accomplishments can be really interesting and shared.  The corollary to the "Other's lives are not that interesting" is that there are likely interesting people who do not participate in Facebook.
4. Corporations are not our friends.  The "Like" function for companies serves as a tool to allow them to introduce more advertising in our lives.  I will at times "Like" a business for a short time for a specific purpose, but generally unlike later.  The "Coporations are not our friends" rule applies to Facebook as well.  Facebook as an entity is paid for by ads, which is fair since it is free for most of us.  But, it is not serving some altruistic purpose.  I personally do not believe I've ever clicked on a Facebook ad.  The constant threat of changing Facebook security and user agreements serves as a reminder of what Facebook the corporation is.
5. Businesses small enough to be personal can be be "Like"ed.  I have only a few business in the "Like" group and they really are companies I have a connection to.  The endless row of suggested companies continue to fall painfully flat.
6. Facebook (or any social media) is no substitute for real interaction.  My friends are people I see and talk with often or at least occasionally.  My Facebook "Friends" are people I may scan at times to see what they are up to.  If Facebook where honest, the Friend button should be destroyed and replaced with the "Acquaintance" button.

Facebook serves a purpose and has some redeeming attributes.  It is in a tough spot as a ad-based service holding on to what made it mildly interesting while also becoming corporate shill for other corporate shills.  Since the Facebook IPO which was largely seen as a travesty, the real profitability of the company seems to be ambiguous.  Facebook "Home" will become a terrifying development once it includes ads (and it will), making ads go from push to push harder.
Still, it has a long-term place in the Internet lexicon.  As people grow up with "Social Media" it will be interesting to see what happens to the entire genre as it continues to mature.
Like many people, I'm on the fence and would not lose much in my real life where it to go away.  Charge me for it?  Bye.  Continue making ads more prolific and doing so more deceptively?  Bye.  Change security settings in a way I'm uncomfortable with (to date, I think these threats are overblown)?  Bye.  I can't always remember why I even have an account.

For now, I guess it is worth the time of my life it currently consumes.

AFK