Sean Reiser

It’s funny, like a lot of people last night I stayed up until midnight to make sure I could grab my name in the facebook land grab. I have to admit, like being on line at the apple store when leopard was released, I wasn’t worried about not getting my name, I was doing it for the social aspect on FriendFeed and Twitter. As this was going on I got to thinking about facebook.

As I’ve been simplifying my internet presence, I’ve stopped listing services I really don’t use. On my site you can see links to twitter, friendfeed, flickr, linkedIN and facebook and I’ve removed links to the other 100 or so services I’ve signed up for and don’t use. Of the services I’ve listed, I really don’t like using facebook and I fear it’s because I don’t entirely understand it.

I’m not saying I don’t like chatting with folks and networking because I do. The level of discussion on friendfeed and twitter are what attracts me to those services. And I’ve really enjoyed finding and chatting with friends who I’ve lost touch with over the year and facebook has really helped with that, especially with finding those folks who really aren’t into technology. I don’t understand the facebook culture.

As a really good friend of mine said recently, why are they sending me digital flowers? I can’t smell them nor can I appreciate them.

Why do you send me “cause invitations”? More importantly, why are you offended when I’m not interested in your cause? I don’t mind hitting the “ignore” button, please don’t complain that I haven’t joined. I’m a constitutionalist I embrace your right to join causes for things you find important, I expect you not to be offended if I choose not to be part of those causes.

I don’t want to be your serf or knight. I don’t want to be a vampire, zombie, or klingon. If I did, I’ve done RPGs in the past and would get back into that.

How is it possible to be a fan of “I need to take a vacation”? I might be a fan of vacations or taking vacations but I could never be a fan of needing to take a vacations.

Why are you sending me a virtual beer… let’s hit the bar instead and get a real one.

Why, in the name of all that’s holy, would I want a pink unicorn for my profile? Is there something about me that says effeminate or prissy?

Again, I do see value in facebook. A month ago I had a lovely dinner with a friend I haven’t seen in over 20 years, that was worth it. I just don’t understand the culture and probably will never fully embrace it.