On the 25^th of February, 2011 I blogged about my hating Facebook, though I did clarify and rectify some of my initial assertions in the comment section, I now feel compelled to write a complete blog about my thoughts on FB.

To begin with I must admit I was a bit hasty with my assessment of FB, though I had been a member, I rarely used it; if someone asked to be friends I would usually say yes and then simply just continue on with what I may had been doing at the time.

What I knew about FB was probably as much as any other informed person who knew of Facebook but never used it –i.e. that a young intellectually gifted college kid from Harvard had created a social networking site not unlike MySpace but much better and perhaps more invasive. The site had grown so expeditiously and prodigiously that there was already a hugely profitable movie distributed by the giant Columbia pictures; and directed by a respectable, good, and mainstream director (David Fincher). Mark Zuckerberg, the site’s founder and creator, had been leveled with charges against him regarding the stealing of other, at the time, working colleague’s ideas relative to the site, and other questionable, complicit and unscrupulous conduct.     

Furthermore, when I happened to passively glance at the site, it usually was not much more than pictures of family members or friends from their most recent vacation or some other uninteresting gathering (how boring is that?) In addition, what I also saw were college-aged kids partying or on the other hand parents showing off his or her snot-nosed kid (oops this was supposed to be an apology of sort, but I can’t help it) throwing a baseball or cheerleading their schoolmates to victory. It seemed like that same old rivalry of whose kid is cuter than mine is. Sure, if you happened to be related to someone, it’s somewhat obligatory to look at their kids pictures when you visit them, but does it have to plastered all over the web for the world to see ?

Well let me elaborate here on my (I would not say change of opinion) but perhaps new perspective I have about Facebook. Unlike Classsmates.com (which is a rip-off), one can look up old schoolmates free. You can also look up anyone for that matter with whom you have lost contact. It is absolutely the best in this regard and I cannot express the unadulterated joy it has provided for me. Reaching out and connecting  with old friends – it elicits a bitter-sweet, happy/sad and warm and nostalgic (at least for me it does) impression that yes time is passing by ever so quickly but how wonderful and kind so many people have flourished  into.

Having stated the aforementioned Facebook CAN (the optimum word is can) be exploitative and if not careful, especially with youngsters, one may purposefully or inadvertently reveal very private and too much information.

The major peeve and concern I have with FB and all the other social networking sites is the prodigious invasion of privacy. There are other sites which are a whole lot worse than FB in terms of privacy issues but I won’t  bother to mention these distasteful sites.

Now it’s your turn WHADAWETHINK? Do we have to be connected to everyone at all times? Will FB and the like supplant nostalgic yearning or perhaps enhance it? Are you a fan of Facebook or were you like me before? Open this up – Facebook, whether we like it or not is something one just can’t dismiss. To date there are a ½ billion regular members – that’s a lot of people.