Happy Birthday to Facebook

In honor of Facebook's 5th birthday, PC Magazine has listed 5 reasons we love the social networking site. I don't think any of them apply to me, and in fact I am way, way outside the usual demographic for users. On Facebook, "old" is anyone over 50. Still, it's interesting, given that someone said this morning that the social utility is 'inane.'



I like it because it's a lazy way to keep track of the people I am fond of who have moved away, and the people I used to work with, and my far-flung relatives.



What I can't understand is those who collect "friends" like trophies. I looked up the friend of a friend of a friend the other day and she had 444 friends. Is that possible? She obviously can't read what each of them is doing every day. If I got 444 little garden requests every day I would flee Facebook quickly. But I certainly do like seeing photos from friends in Alaska. We have 2 sets of friends up there and one is as much over 50 as I am! I may start a new group--when I think of a good name.



One more thing, a website called ReadWriteWeb has a good article this week on the Unforeseen Consequences of Social Networking.

They also have posted a warning in the form of 8 Tools to Track Your Footprint on the web. I cringe when I think of all that inane stuff out in the ether, somewhat like junk in space.