The Great Time Suck | Giftie Etcetera: The Great Time Suck

Thursday, October 30, 2008

The Great Time Suck



Total time suck.



I am overwhelmed and addicted, all at the same time.

Darn that Chelle, being all smart and all.



Frog said...

I can't stop laughing!! I knew you'd be addicted too!!

If people post on your wall, you'll get a notification. If you post on their wall, they will get a notification. I think you can get the notifications emailed to you. It also usually lets you know when your "friends" post new things on their wall. That way you can stay updated.

Beorn said...

This is one of several reasons why I got rid of Facebook--more info about more people doing more mundane stuff and broadcasting more of it more often doesn't strike me as an improvement of...well, anything really.

Then there's the egotistical aspect of it. Should anyone care about my hour-to-hour status message changes? Should the size of my head swell until I believe that they will?

Then there's the fact that Facebook has made it clear that it REALLY does not respect the desire for privacy. The "Beacon" debacle was the straw that broke the camel's back for me--having my online purchases broadcast to "friends" without my knowledge or approval until public pressure forced Facebook to relent was waaaay over the line. You can be sure that this taught Facebook to be more stealthy next time they want to violate users' privacy.

On a related note, many of the viral programs distributed across Facebook are also privacy risks. And the number of my friends who thought it was cute to spam everyone they knew with Zombie bites or any number of other lame space-and-time wasters was...disheartening.

Another problem: There is NO WAY to delete a Facebook account. Once you create one, the most you can do is make it dormant; Facebook will store whatever information you give it indefinitely, and you lose the right to control it thereafter.

I could keep going, but I know I already sound like a crazy old crank who's 30 years older than I actually am. I just can't wait for the "Web 2.0" fad to either pass, or to develop into something that's actually useful AND respectful of individual privacy. Not very likely that that will happen, but unless and until it does I think there are lots of compelling reasons for sitting out this particular revolution.

Sorry for being a party pooper.

Mathochist said...

I could have written most of this myself! Except why I joined. And the NAK part, of course.

I just read status updates and comment where I think appropriate. There is no way I could comment or write to everyone on a regular basis. I've only visited about 15% of my friends' walls so far. I do try to visit someone's wall before I write them.

I activated FB mobile (don't do this if you don't have a text messaging plan) so I can approve friends and respond to (short) wall posts and (I think) status comments on the go. I don't have a data plan on my smartphone because I'm (read my hubby is) too cheap, so I don't visit the FB mobile web page, just use the text messages.

I think it is super-fun to read about the mundane stuff people are doing. Some of my friends put some really corny stuff in their status, and it makes me smile and laugh and miss them and pray for them, when otherwise I might not have even thought of them (or in some cases even remembered them!).

I like playing Word Twist with friends. It is short enough that I can actually do a whole round w/o being interrupted. It is just enough of a mind-clearer for me that when I'm done (3 or 4 or 10 rounds later), I can get up and get back to the bones of being mom, feeling less overwhelmed than when I sat down.

Also, I spent a LOT of time - months and months - nursing my first nursling on the rocker or couch, needing to use both hands to nurse, unable to do anything except watch TV when I would really rathered reading a book or surfing the web. So I'm glad to hear that you can already NAK.

fred said...

I treat it like I do all of my friendly communication--do it when I want, whenever I want, and if that means ignoring things and/or people, so be it. Of course, this is exactly why I have no friends....