Contrary to most individuals that use the internet today, I have had a pretty strong dislike for social networking sites ever since they appeared a few years ago. It all started with Myspace, which pretty much left me feeling kind of dirty and greasy after using it. Sometimes when I wake up after checking Myspace, my mouth feels like cigarette smoke and cheap booze, but like seedy night club cheap booze, rather than honky tonk bar cheap booze, which is much cooler. Myspace spreads adult cooties.
Facebook is basically the anti-myspace. The interface is clean and elegant, and you can’t edit the html and insert stupid tiled background images of fairies with black wings sitting bathed in moonlight in a very melancholy fashion, which is wonderful, but Facebook does have all those annoying mini-program widgits that I keep getting invitations for that I keep ignoring, which is a mark against it. If you send me an invitation to use a widgit and I ignore it, don’t be offended. It’s not personal, I just don’t want to clutter up my life with that crap. Other than that, Facebook is a pretty nice means of communicating with your friends. But I even hated Facebook for a long time because it more easily allowed people to find me when I didn’t want to be found. I guess I could delete it, but then I would probably just make another, just like all those who have tried to quit Myspace and heroin but can’t stay away.
Recently though, there have been a number of events that have changed my viewpoint a little on social networking, although I still hate Myspace. One recent event was that Facebook allowed a friend of mine from high school to get back in touch with me. Now, I generally like the keep the past exactly where it is, but this individual happened to be one of the few individual’s whom I actually wanted to get back in touch with. That situation is going well and I’m very happy to have her back in my life.
Disclaimer: If you are an old high school companion of mine and are worried that you are not one of the few that I would like to be back in touch with, you are probably right. But it isn’t so much that I don’t want to have anything to do with you, but I need you to forget everything you thought you knew about me so that we can start over because I’m probably not who you remember.
Next on the list is Facebook chat. It is wonderful that built right into the Facebook interface is an instant messenger that allows you to chat instantly with your friends without having to install anything; thanks a lot for making me install your stupid IM software, Myspace, you jerk. Facebook chat is a handy way not only to chat with your friends, but to keep track of when they are logged in.
Finally, though, and probably best of all, several weeks ago I discovered Digsby. Digsby is a new multi-network instant messenger that connects you to all the major IM networks, plus Jabber and Gmail talk. It also checks your email, and can even be set up to give you Facebook and Myspace alerts so you know exactly what you have waiting for you without having to log into the sites. But it gets better. Digsby now supports Facebook chat, so when your friends sign in, they show up in your instant messenger list just like your other IM accounts, and you don’t even have to be logged into the site. It is pretty amazing. I think Digsby should get some kind of award for being the most useful piece of communication software of 2008.
It is surprising how a few minor details can affect a major change in a person’s outlook, but I think it is possible that my new comfortability with communicating through Facebook could open some interesting avenues for me.
Myspace can bugger off as far as I’m concerned.
