Question about Facebook...

[Machias Banshee]

Evening all,

I thought I would ask for two cents from everyone. With the increasing amount of people using Facebook, I've been thinking about joining... but I'm leery of it. For the people who ARE on it right now, do you prefer using your real name, or an Alias? I'm torn between having one for fandom junk, or for real life stuff...

[Spitfire]

It's a toss. If you use your real name be careful what you say. Employers check FB and if they see you saying stuff they don't like it could wash back on you or not get you a job. That's really the worst of it. I don't get many friend collectors, Myspace I got tons, and it's a nice way to keep in touch with people you probably would have no other means to speak with. Old friends find you and family members, it's really interesting actually.

It's a lot cleaner then Myspace and a great resource for social networking. If you're into promoting things FB is the place to do it. If you create fan pages for things you can switch between them all under one log in which is really nice.

[Jester]

You'd have at least one friend right off the bat. I uses my real name...haven't had much problem. Biggest problem is turning down all the farmville invites.

[Raph's Girl]

I use my real name. *shrugs*

I like it cuz I can keep in touch with family and friends... I mostly use it for that, genealogy, and games.

[GK Punk]

I use my real name. If you're worried you can use the security settings so only your friends can see anything you do on there.

[Venom]

Yup, I use my real name as well. Facebook is a bit safer to use than Myspace, in my opinion, in that it doesn't allow people to randomly request people; it caps if you have too many unfriended requests. Also, as GK mentioned, you can set your privacy settings as strict as you like.

[XERO]

Either way, Machi, we know who you are. :P ;)

[plastroncafe]

Facebook is one of the few places online where I use my real name.

As for joining:

Be aware that Facebook has a long history of changing their security settings with little to no warning, and they have a fondness of opting people into things without asking.

You can keep things locked down pretty tight, but I think the better security would be to not put on facebook anything you wouldn't want everyone to know.

[Ninja Turtles 25 Years]

I know I will be unpopular at this thread, but I HATE Facebook, Twitter, MySpace and YouTube comments. I don't believe that social networking sites are a proper way to meet friends, or even a proper way of speaking. You will never see those icons on my websites unless Webs attaches them to my pages behind my back. Besides those kind of websites are showing that we as people are getting a bit too attached to the computer and less on the real world. Here's an idea for good alternatives: you want to meet people-- get off your butt off the computer and go out in public; you want talk to someone you can't meet up with-- try that handy-dandy invension called the phone. In this kind of world, you're going to need REAL friends, real connections to get ahead in a career, and net friends are not real friendships. They just call themselves your friend.

Oh and another reason why I don't care for those sites, which as addressed here and that is violation of privacy rights. I don't feel it's right that management or college teachers have the right to screw you out of a job/degree because they are spying on what you are saying about them. That is so thin-skined of them. You will exist much better without all of that stuff.

And I can give an example of how damaging Facebook is. A few weeks ago, I saw a new interview and it showed a badly dressed 20-year-old punk (all in green, sunglasses, acting like a jerk) says that the government has put more people on the streets more now than ever. Then he said that he himself is homeless, but he talks on Facebook all day long. He seems like he being on Facebook with no home of his own is a celebration. This is just some loser punk who his parents didn't want to support anymore and didn't want to get out and get a job, but he blames the government to why he and others like him are homeless.

[Cure]

Jesus. I don't like Facebook much either, but you have to be the most miserable person on these boards.

[Ninja Turtles 25 Years]

Jesus. I don't like Facebook much either, but you have to be the most miserable person on these boards.

Up your blow hole punk loser! And I've seen the kind of things you say to people on this site, and I have to say you are a real piece of work. You don't have to stomp all over people just because you feel you need to have an opinion about nearly everything. So back off!

[Cure]

Right. But look what I found!

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v245/KevMan87/site.png

I don't buy that that's there by accident.

[Peanut]

While I think your argument about "net friends not being real friends" is entirely baseless and borderline retarded, some of my best friends in the world are from this very forum, I do think Facebook has given too many stupid people a very visible way to b*tch and complain about how worthless they are.

I had a Facebook that my fiance made for me, but I used it maybe a total of 3 times. I think it's a complete waste of time and people who spend their days on there are worse than any poop-socking WoW player, because they have this insane need to know everyones business ALL THE TIME. That and Facebook games are the bane of this f*cking planet. People paying thousands of dollars to play a sh*tty version of Harvest Moon and Sim City, when they could just pay anywhere from $10-$50 for a game a hundred times as deep and a million times more polished, are all mental cases who need to be drug out into the street and shot.

[ooglafina]

I use my real name. Probably not a great idea, but I do it. I have all the turtle people and real life people on together. I think it's kind of fun to see people interacting who wouldn't normally.

And yelling at Cure isn't going to change the fact that social networking websites are popular and will stay that way.

[Hannah]

I know I will be unpopular at this thread, but I HATE Facebook, Twitter, MySpace and YouTube comments. I don't believe that social networking sites are a proper way to meet friends, or even a proper way of speaking. You will never see those icons on my websites unless Webs attaches them to my pages behind my back. Besides those kind of websites are showing that we as people are getting a bit too attached to the computer and less on the real world. Here's an idea for good alternatives: you want to meet people-- get off your butt off the computer and go out in public; you want talk to someone you can't meet up with-- try that handy-dandy invension called the phone. In this kind of world, you're going to need REAL friends, real connections to get ahead in a career, and net friends are not real friendships. They just call themselves your friend.

Oh and another reason why I don't care for those sites, which as addressed here and that is violation of privacy rights. I don't feel it's right that management or college teachers have the right to screw you out of a job/degree because they are spying on what you are saying about them. That is so thin-skined of them. You will exist much better without all of that stuff.

And I can give an example of how damaging Facebook is. A few weeks ago, I saw a new interview and it showed a badly dressed 20-year-old punk (all in green, sunglasses, acting like a jerk) says that the government has put more people on the streets more now than ever. Then he said that he himself is homeless, but he talks on Facebook all day long. He seems like he being on Facebook with no home of his own is a celebration. This is just some loser punk who his parents didn't want to support anymore and didn't want to get out and get a job, but he blames the government to why he and others like him are homeless.


This is hilarious. Why did you even include "YouTube comments" with those? That isn't a type of social networking- this forum is closer to Facebook than YouTube is. Who are you to determine if "net friends" are real friends or not? I met the love of my life on the internet (on this very forum) and we're in the process of getting an apartment together right now. I'm not sure how much more real you can get.
Your "example" of how damaging Facebook is has very little to do with Facebook. I can assure you that this person's political views did not come to be simply because he made a Facebook account. Your logic is idiotic at best.

[Eiko]

I have facebook but hardly ever use it i prefer the old fashioned way of talking to my friends the phone lol. :D

[愛]

I use my real name, phone number and address on Facebook. I'm not a private person. Come at me, bro.

[jaymq]

I don't use my real last name on FB. Firstly, it's not very common and would make it easy to find me IRL. Secondly, I don't care about 98% of the people I went to school with and have little to no interest in getting back in touch with them or having them find me.

As for app invites.. someone mentioned that a few posts or so back. Apps can be blocked from contacting you.

[deadpoolRKO]

Come at me, bro.

looking at your avatar then reading that , just fits perfectly. lol

[Wildgoose]

I use my real name...really facebook isnt something that great...And of course Im careful to not befriend everybody who see my pic and send me a friend request. Of course Ive set the profile setting to the maximum of privacy I can get but that doesnt mean that Im safe....anyway I find it as a good way to communicate with my friend that have left my country or town...

[XERO]

Here's an idea for good alternatives: you want to meet people-- get off your butt off the computer and go out in public.

I do.

That's how I GOT their Facebooks. :P

[Spitfire]

Rant

Speaking as some whose gotten work through FB I'd say all your hate for it comes from either not using it or using it wrong. FB is like a public discussion. I don't say anything on there I wouldn't say out loud, or over the phone. If you're stupid enough to trash talk people you're friends with all over FB that's your own problem. I've never heard of someone being denied a degree because of what they said on FB and many colleges have rules against students and teachers fraternizing outside of school, and yes FB falls under that.

As far as jobs go just know if you add friends from work you gotta watch what you say, unless they're on your level. If not then just don't add them. Unless you don't pay any attention at all and have internet tourettes it shouldn't be a problem. Youc an also block your page to any outside viewers.

[Jo Dawn]

I use my real name. If you're worried you can use the security settings so only your friends can see anything you do on there.

Agreed. It's one of the few things I use my real name for, and I totally use the security settings for my benefit, hehe.

I use it to keep in touch with family and old friends, and coworkers. I admit that I do play some games on there, but I have my settings so only other people that play the games can see my posts for it.

But yeah, the only way to be safe about it is to just be aware what you're posting and don't put anything you don't want everyone on the internet to know!

[Jester]

Well lookie here. It's Jo!

[Storm Wolf]

I can see why many people hate Facebook and other social networking sites but I like them for the most part. It has helped me keep contact with friends and family. Plus when I'm super bored at work it gives me something to do.

Hannah is right.... Facebook is similar to this site. Many of us would never know each other exist without this forum.

Hell many of you don't remember the time when Peanut used to be sweet and innocent! (joking...please don't hurt me!) :P

I use my real name on Facebook as I live in a different state and it's easier for old friends to look me up. I use the security options as well.

Machi one of my co-workers has two accounts one with his real name and one fake persona. He uses one to make prank videos and such.

It never hurts to try and if you don't like it you can deactivate your account.

[SassyGal]

I use my real name on FB & because I used it for locating old friends from school, I hyphenated my maiden & married names so people could find me or recognize my name if they didn't know I had gotten married.

I primarily use it to keep in contact with family and friends who don't live near me and to be honest, I'm on the phone all day at work, so I have no interest in coming home and attaching my head to the phone when I can just send them a message on FB.

I do have work people on my FB including a former team leader & my current team leader, but I am pretty much the same person IRL & online, so there is nothing too scandalous for anyone to see. The most you can get from my FB is I'm married, have a dog, enjoy playing City of Wonder, and sometimes I enjoy posing my action figures for profile pictures! :P

And Peanut is right...paying real money for crappy half-assed FB games is just ridiculous.

[Koi]

I have my real name on facebook, everything is set for only friends to see so it is all well for me.

[Storm Wolf]

I refuse to pay real money for thoes fb games tho I will admit I do play them occasionally at the request of my grandmother. I've tried getting her into real games but she likes to "see everyones gardens" *shrugs*

[ssjup81]

I use my real name. I don't care really who knows it. Besides, it's not like I'll put any real info on there (or the net in general) that can incriminate me. I'm a bit wary in that sense and always have been. I have this mentality...if I won't do or say something offline, then I won't online either. Some people call me "boring" because I don't put up all the photos and junk like that.

I got FB back in 2008. Was talked into it, but rarely ever used it. I did find a friend I didn't hear from after 9-11 happened, though, back in 2009 and I was grateful to FB for that. He was a childhood friend I went to school with. I hadn't seen him since our hs graduation (1999) and after the events of 9-11 I just completely lost contact. I've been chatting with him semi-regularly ever since I found him on FB back in2009. He's stationed in South Korea now.

FB was also very useful for me after the Earthquake/Tsunami stuff in Japan back in March. It gave my parents a piece of mind, especially since I was so close to where everything was going on and couldn't use Skype and int'l calling was expensive (I did manage to call collect twice, $400 that I have to pay them back for). It also helped me to know how others were doing around me who I couldn't contact.

It's useful, but like with any social networking site, it depends on how you use it or what you're going to use it for. For me, only friends and family are mostly on it. I'm not really interested in "meeting new people", because I'm a bit old-fashioned in that sense. In all honesty, last year was the most I'd ever used it since I was overseas. Otherwise, I don't do much on it, 'cept for playing Bejeweled Blitz sometimes.

Most of my random comments have been about OT stuff these past few months. lol

[XERO]

I refuse to pay real money for thoes fb games tho I will admit I do play them occasionally at the request of my grandmother. I've tried getting her into real games but she likes to "see everyones gardens" *shrugs*

Your grandmother rocks. :lol:

[RAM BAM]

I use my real name. I've also cut back the number of friends I have on facebook. Pertaining to work, I decided to remove all of the people I work
with on my friends list. This is due to the fact that I think there should be
a clear and concise line between homelife and work. (Sorry if that's a wee bit off topic, I apologize!)

[BubblyShell22]

That's very smart thinking, RamBam. It's best to keep work and other things separate because you never know when things can go wrong.

As for me, I don't really want to use Facebook. I agree that it's good to keep in touch with family and friends, but I just choose not to use it.

[JameO]

Why must people rant about something they don't know about. If you got fired for skipping out on work and posting stuff on your facebook that you haven't ensured is secure from co-workers then you deserve to be jobless. You can make custom groups that are only allowed to see certain photo albums, certain parts of your page, you can lock it down to only friends can see what you post, so any outside your friends can't see anything. I use my real name, and details. I have nothing to hide, and I will admit I am a bit addicted to facebook. A lot more than I would rather be but I enjoy keeping in contact with friends and playing those annoying games sometimes.

[RAM BAM]

Why must people rant about something they don't know about. If you got fired for skipping out on work and posting stuff on your facebook that you haven't ensured is secure from co-workers then you deserve to be jobless. You can make custom groups that are only allowed to see certain photo albums, certain parts of your page, you can lock it down to only friends can see what you post, so any outside your friends can't see anything. I use my real name, and details. I have nothing to hide, and I will admit I am a bit addicted to facebook. A lot more than I would rather be but I enjoy keeping in contact with friends and playing those annoying games sometimes.

I just like keeping my personal life and work life separate. I don't hang with anyone from work, so I don't see how it should be different with Facebook. :)

[BubblyShell22]

And that's fine, RB. I think that's a very smart idea because you don't know who you can trust anymore.