On January 1, 2008 I started a Facebook page, primarily because Pam Spaulding had been promoting hers at Pam's House Blend and I was curious to check it out.
After creating an account and filling out the profile info and then seeing my first page I really wondered what the big deal was. It seemed overly simplistic and rather boring. Pam accepted my friend request and then I was able to view her page. That was my wow moment. This really appeals to my inner geek in a major way.
Oddly enough, not long after I created a page, I had a friend request which I accepted. I didn't recognize the name, but since so many people I know via blogging use screen names, I didn't think much of it. I visited this person's page and had no idea who it was. I finally removed this person as a friend when I started getting accepted invitations from other bloggers and friends I actually know. And it was pretty obvious after checking out that guy's page that he was simply amassing a collection of friends he found attractive based on a thumbnail photo. Creepy! Can we have a few non-sexual conversations before you pin me up on your bedroom wall?
One exciting aspect of this is finding new widgets to put on my page. I don't think I've viewed one friend's page in which I didn't fine some new add-on that I loved!
Now the weird part. Someone just invited me to be their friend. The beauty of Facebook is that you can view their page before you accept, and Facebook tells you how many friends you have in common. In this case, it was zero. I'm just going to leave that one. Obviously I have no problems with gay guys, but if I don't know you, and virtually all your friends are gay guys, some of whom are posing in their profile pic either shirtless or naked, then I'm going to make the rational assumption that I'm not being invited to be your friend because of the size of my record collection, my political views, or because you read my blog.
When I created my page, I had no idea what I planned to do with it aside from just figure out what it's all about. And if it hadn't been of any interest to me at all, I would have just deleted the account. Now that I have it, I like it, and I can see the value in being able to keep up with friends, and it's entertaining. But I really don't think I want to fill it up with "friends" I don't even know. Some people do, I suppose. I'm sure it has something to do with a few of the LGBT groups I added, but if I was going to send an invite to someone I didn't know, I think I'd at least include a comment with the reason, such as shared musical interest, or whatever. And no, a shared attraction to men --exclusively-- doesn't cut it for my Facebook site.
It should be pretty obvious from my page that I'm not on there to swap porn, talk about my sexual habits or my fantasies. Hell, I can do that on my blog! But seriously, therein lies the problem with Facebook: people can't actually see your page until they're you're friend, nor would you want them to because there's often personal information on the page you really wouldn't want to share with a total stranger. So it's a bit of a catch-22 situation.
I'm just curious to know if other people reading my blog have a Facebook page and if you get many requests from people you don't know, and what your philosophy is regarding this phenomenon.
And by the way, if you do have a Facebook page, and I know you from this blog, I'd be happy to be your friend. Just send me an invite!
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