The Etiquette of Facebooking

Once upon a time, the sentence "Everybody and their mom are on Facebook!" would have been gross hyperbole for the fact that the social networking site started allowing non-Ivy Leaguers to sign up.

Now, everybody. And. Their. Mom. Is. On. Facebook.

Yes, even your mom, who's probably not as IT technical as my very IT technical mom, is on Facebook.

In facebook, Jo Blogg posted his status as
"is organising an upcoming event named Jo is lonely and needs a friend Party".

In Jo Blogg's upcoming event page, it shows
Confirmed Guests (0), Maybe Attending (0), Awaiting Reply (8), Not Attending (259)!

How much does this information convey you about this person named Jo Blogg?

Let's say her mom read it and would probably reply
"What did you mean by lonely? Your father and I are very worried…”

Sure, Facebook can be a great tool for keeping up with folks who are important to you. Take the newsy status update for example, it is a real-time window into a friend's life. If you don't like, you can always ignore, but if you feel like, you can always express with a thumb up.

Nonetheless, as Facebook is getting sprawlingly more powerful, we have to be extra careful we don't create pointless twaddles and end up being
framed as one of the 12 most annoying types of Facebookers featured in cnn.com.

As I was writing this article, a friend of mine artfully sent me How Facebook Ruins Friendships.

Alrighty, go ahead, be deadly truthful.
Am I an evil facebook user? Feel free to be anonymous with your comments.

But before you do, I am going to post this blog entry on my facebook profile!