Bye Bye Facebook
Hey all,
For those of you who follow me on Facebook, I have some sad news – my Facebook account no longer exists. I have done this for a number of different reasons based on my own views and opinions of others. It wasn’t long ago that a friend who has just finished studying overseas told me that the first thing companies overseas were doing was viewing a persons profile to really get into their lives. This doesn’t sit comfortably with me anymore – I would prefer to have some privacy in my life than none at all. Another reason is time, Facebook has started to take up more time than required, when you reach 500 friends, each and every time you log in, you have many private messages to answer, hundreds of application requests and an array of different things to do before even attempting to do what you set out to do.
Facebook is a wonderful medium for social interaction and contact building – I don’t take anything away from it, but all in all, I feel that it’s better to have some privacy in my life and more time to concentrate on work, my personal life and this blog.
That being said, things at iMod are going to change substantially, I am no longer interested in the masses of traffic this blog receives. I’ve not decided what I am going to do with the site yet, but hopefully something a little more useful and less all over the place. I would like to move away from blogging and onto something a little different – with web 3.0 entering the scene, there’s room for interesting changes on the horizon and I’m going to embrace them.
Off topic – I had a fantastic weekend of wining and dining and the occasional meeting. I trust that everyone reading this also had a great weekend! While I’m sending out good wishes, may everyone start this week on a happy note!
If anyone has an interesting idea for this website, please please please email me with your idea, I’d love to get something new going :)
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Christopher is the founder of iMod - Most of his time is spent building websites and pushing the limits with Search Engine Optimization. You can follow him on Twitter @ChristopherM
Chris M has written: 4759 posts.
Feb 17th, 2008 at 10:26 pm
High 5!
Facebook is somewhat pointless anyway
Feb 17th, 2008 at 10:28 pm
^5 – ye mate, time to get a little more offline I reckon :)
Feb 18th, 2008 at 2:05 am
Facebook = Address Book. That’s all I ever use it for. And since all my friends are people that I actually know, I don’t get a lot of Facebook spam :)
And Facebook’s demonstrated that it’s somewhat cavalier with personal data. Like the whole Facebook Beacon incident. So I tend to use it for nothing more than responding to the messages of others.
Just a question. Coming from someone who likes to stay informed of Web trends, this sounds a little embarassing – but I’ve never been exactly TOO clear on what Web 3.0 is supposed to be?
Web 1, in my mind, was built on the paradigm that consumers needed access to information. Maintenance-heavy sites were thusly created for the sole purpose of feeding information to the public.
Web 2.0, to me, was about putting the power to produce and share content in the hands of the average person. Welcome YouTube, blogging, Synthasite, and a whole bunch of others. And in line with this, design trends turned towards making sites very user-friendly. Hence the shiny buttons and bold fonts.
So what the hell is Web 3.0 supposed to be?
Maybe you can start by answering that question ;)
~ Wogan
Feb 18th, 2008 at 9:34 am
@Haydn – Facebook is not pointless I use it drive tons of traffic to my sites with groups and events.
@Chris – I never check app invites just ignore them? My home.php page is a mess but I often skip it and get on what I wanted to do ..as far as the employers checking your profile – you have to first grant them access.. instead of accepting every friend request you got you should’ve kept it to just friends
Anyway, I rate you will be back.. Hence why Facebook has the profile disable feature and not delete
Feb 18th, 2008 at 10:03 am
*snigger*
Since no two people can even agree on what “Web 2.0″ is, and even Tim O’Reilly (who coined the phrase in 2004) doesn’t seem to have much clue (http://www.oreillynet.com/pub/a/oreilly/tim/news/2005/09/30/what-is-web-20.html) it’s a bit embarrassing to announce that “Web 3.0 is coming”… Here, have a slice of marketing hype!
Feb 18th, 2008 at 10:07 am
Think Facebook is the equivalent of a mass produced product. All the apps can make it very tedious. Like Wogan only use it for addressbook. I think your web or blog is far more interesting and fun. Even if your are not good at it. It least you have full control over it.
I am not sure but read somewhere on the web that even if you delete your account it is not removed at all. That idea is scary. I found this out with some are social networks. Delete account and went back a few months later. Use the same name and email and there it was again.
Big Brother does not let go easily. :)
Feb 18th, 2008 at 11:14 am
Charl an dRustig makes some good points… Suggestions for this site? depends on whattheme or ideas you’re moving into – get some video going! For teh win ;)
Feb 18th, 2008 at 11:19 am
I must admit, this is quite surprising! Are you not the owner of the facebook.co.za domain?! Look, don’t get me wrong, I’m no huge Facebook fan, but as Charl said, it does have its usefulness.
As far as privacy goes, it can be protected and really, you should maybe not do stuff on there that you may be ashamed about later on. It could be useful for your new/potential employer to get a good impression of you provided you use it wisely. So I cannot agree with that. Not that I’ve seen you do anything you have to be ashamed about!
Time is a good reason, but it can be controlled! It could teach you great self discipline even.
Nah, mate, sorry, but I think there is more to it than this! C’mon out with the REAL reason! Is it a jealous girlfriend? That I can believe and understand! ;-)
Feb 18th, 2008 at 12:44 pm
to all you facebook freaks. get a life from a facebook-hater
Feb 18th, 2008 at 12:47 pm
I myself still enjoy the ‘ol book, but yes their are privacy issues now especially with allowing google to search for names in profiles. They did however add ways to block users and search engines from picking up your details. I personally think these should have been defaulted as the average user may find it difficult to setup.
Feb 18th, 2008 at 12:54 pm
Chris: I just want to correct something here. I did not mean you are not good at blogging or websites. What I tried to say is that for the average person it is far better to create there own site or blog. Even if it does not win any awards. Thought will correct this before you read it wrong and I offended you or someone here.
Feb 18th, 2008 at 1:38 pm
Ja, I’m with Charl and co on this one hun – it’s what you do with it that counts.
I’ve reconnected with people I thought I’d never see again via facebook, and it’s also helped me ‘manage’ my widely diverse friendships easily. I only accept people I know, and I never put any personal details other than one of my email addies. I ignore all application and friendship requests if I don’t like the look of them. I use it purely as Wogan says – as an address book, one that is also a good platform to keep my peeps updated on my blog posting, plus any other shit in my life I want them to know.
I know it can also get a bit much, which is why I don’t really spend a large amount of time on it at all, other than to send the occasion message or post my blog stuff or similar. So an hour or less a day to keep in touch with all my connections really isn’t a big deal.
But have a break, and see how that goes hun. Good luck with the iMod stuff as well! :-)
Feb 18th, 2008 at 2:03 pm
@johnathan, I could not agree more. Web 2.0? Web 3.0? Neither can be conclusively defined.
As for facebook, you only spend a lot of time on it casue you want to. Nothing forces you to spend time there.
Feb 18th, 2008 at 2:59 pm
Weird! You used to have a few good posts on Facebook.co.za about privacy, tips etc.
I’ve closed off my profile, other than my education and work details, to the public. So if a company wants to have a look at my profile all they’ll be greeted with is a mini CV. I’ve switched off email notifications so only really need to access my profile once a day, if at all. As Stii, mentioned there must be some other reason to deleting your account.
Feb 18th, 2008 at 4:25 pm
So many comments and so many questions!
Firstly, Jonathan, I couldn’t agree more with you, the whole web 1, 2, 3 thing is a total marketing ploy, which has been blown out of bounds second to nothing! I must admit, if everyone is bouncing and changing with the over used terms, then why not? ;)
A couple of you asked and stated that I must have another reason, well honestly, I don’t. I’ve had enough of having those details so specifically located and accessible to everyone. In Facebook’s terms and conditions, they state that any user without all their up to date details on the website, can be removed removed by Facebook admin. This being said, they’re basically ‘forcing’ everyone to place all their details online, so by not listing all your details, you’re technically going against the terms – just an interesting way to look at it. No, it’s not about a girlfriend reading up on stuff, haha, although I’m sure many people have left because of this, in my case it does not apply. I just feel as though I’m a little too accessible.
There are many ways to avoid being so ‘public’ on Facebook, but at the end of the day, being invisible will never happen and that’s what bugs me.
It’s a personal decision, as I said, Facebook is a wonderful medium, I take nothing away from it, but for me, well, I’m over it all. Yes, Facebook is a wonderful resource for RSS feeds and gathering extra traffic for your websites, I totally agree – However, I will follow my traffic and see if it actually makes a difference :)
As far as ideas for my website go, I’m not entirely sure what I am heading towards, but preferably not blogging. I received an email earlier from someone suggesting that maybe I should do a Chris’ List as in a similar approach to Craig’s List. Not a bad idea at all, I must have a link about this. I’m still up for suggestions however :)
This has opened up a big discussion, I’m overwhelmed at the response and more overwhelmed by the number of people defending Facebook. I have nothing against that at all, don’t get me wrong. Would an opensource/linux user not be against Facebook? I’m just curious :)
Thanks for all the comments everyone, it’s really interesting to see all your views!
Feb 18th, 2008 at 8:47 pm
Comeon Chris?
come back on Facebook, we miss u already,
lol,
Feb 18th, 2008 at 9:29 pm
Haha Yasser, I’m sure you do ;)
Feb 18th, 2008 at 10:14 pm
ya ya ya, in doing so just trying to drive more traffic to this blog..”oh no, his not on fb, i wonder why” bla bla bla
Feb 18th, 2008 at 10:22 pm
I think you made the right choice, I know that in the states almost every company you will interview with has already attempted, if not succeeded in viewing your facebook profile. Yes, you can manage your own page and use it is a resource to promote yourself but there is also the problem of what other people can put on their own pages about you which you have no control over. Good luck with the new imod! I’m sure it will turn out fantastic :)
Feb 18th, 2008 at 10:27 pm
Ya ya ya – in writing that comment you’ve just made a total tit out of yourself to all that traffic, lol.
Next time you feel really moved to write something clever and insightful like that, you may want to look up the difference between ‘he’s’ and ‘his’ and practice using it in a sentence. Or, get Firefox, it has built-in spellcheck. :-)
Feb 18th, 2008 at 10:32 pm
ya ya ya, if I was just trying to drive more traffic, I wouldn’t resort to leaving Facebook. I have years of experience in traffic moving, I could get more traffic easily mate.
Nats – Glad you agree Nats, I took your advice and information when you told me about the companies and it kind of gave me a nice wake up call! How are you hun?
Rox – lol, ya! LOL – you crack me up :)
Feb 19th, 2008 at 9:46 am
Shite you get a lot of comments these days :D nice.
What about Facebook Development, you seemed very keen about the platform in your post last week after the CPT dev meet. And browsing around FB dev forum, I saw you posted a few queries yesterday. Still going to be active there?
Feb 19th, 2008 at 10:50 am
Hey Wezz,
Ye mate, things have picked up fairly nicely :)
With regards to Facebook Development, I do not need a personal account to carry on. I will continue to look at the various aspects of the API and see what I can come up with. I have some smashing ideas, I just haven’t really had the time to put them together.
How are things over at the Chump Style playgrounds? I’m on my way over as I type this :)
Mar 10th, 2008 at 3:36 pm
this comment high-lighting ‘functionality’ is easily the worst thing i’ve yet come across on a blog.
Mar 10th, 2008 at 3:41 pm
Rob I think its the template change Chris has made that’s made the high-lighting functionality stand out more.
Chris, can hardly see the comments bro – using Firefox.
Mar 11th, 2008 at 12:55 am
Ye guys, sorry hey, I’ve been working so hard on getting a colour scheme, which I think works and I’m almost there. The highlighting is rather terrible, I do agree, I’ll be working on it shortly, sorry for the inconvenience!
Wezz – sorry mate!
May 9th, 2008 at 12:12 pm
hay u
i think u should get rid of the nitty gritty stuf like sending flowers and stuff.
i think you should cut it short at just texing and thats it. the other stuff takes to much time
May 9th, 2008 at 7:09 pm
I am back on Facebook actually, but in a very much invisible way :)
Jul 19th, 2008 at 5:44 pm
All the ppl that say, FACEBOOK Suck, Then u suck 2…….
Jul 20th, 2008 at 9:25 pm
Haha, Xeon, ye, Facebook is addictive ;)