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A Facebook primer

MATHEW INGRAM

Globe and Mail Update

Latest comment posted at 10:42 AM EDT 30/04/07

A little history behind the superhot social network ...Read the full article

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  1. Ms. Jan from Toronto, Canada writes: Facebook is over, and not just because everybody's parents know about it. At my university, a lot of us are opting out of Facebook because we don't want to be hounded by former acquaintances who troll the system looking for anyone they know. The annoyance overshadows the convenience.
  2. Sir Trails from Toronto, Canada writes: Facebok is teh awesoem!!!!!oneone!

    I guess the G&M are too dazzled by their own redesign to check the spelling of the 29px font at the top of the page.
  3. L R from Toronto, Canada writes: If you don't want to be trolled, then adjust your privacy settings. Facebook makes it quite easy to limit your profile to only your friends and even eliminate your profile from coming up in searches. Like, duh.
  4. Jake Rose from Halifax, writes: Yay!!!! Another hawkishly paternalistic newspaper article about the crazy stuff us young folks are up to. What--if anything--is facebok(sic) good for?

    Indeed. I wonder if next week's column will be another one about why this apathetic generation of mine is ignoring the traditional media outlets.
  5. Eddo LS from Canada writes: Facebook was so much better when it was university students only.
  6. L R from Toronto, Canada writes: ^ Agreed.
  7. Cal Lee from Toronto, Canada writes: Myspace was the new Friendster and now Facebook is the new Myspace, soon or later a new interactive site will open and Facebook will have the same fate as Friendster but if the rumor were true that they decline an offer for a buyout of $750 million, that decision is even more stupid than Friendster turn down to sell for $30 million when they were popular.
  8. Open Wookie from Toronto, Canada writes: There are some decent 'student only' social networking sites around. One is Fraternity Live (www.fraternitylive.com) but you can only join if you belong to a fraternity or a sorority.
  9. S Bern from Toronto, Canada writes: It seems the G&M is still obsessed with Facebook. In the early 90s it was internet pure and simple that started in Universities that caught fire, then it was hotmail, chat rooms, messenger, webcams, etc and most recently youtube, myspcace and facebook. I think that the more noise mainstream media like the Globe keeps on doing, the less appealing will be for the younger generations to join in and soon the even younger generations will find/invent a different cyber gathering place.
  10. Sheila Nice from Quispamsis, Canada writes: I think if I get one more invitation from someone using Facebook, I will scream. :)
  11. Jennifer Sharpe from Halifax, Canada writes: I think Facebook should stay for university students only. It was a great idea for the university level. My daughter just finished her first year at university and she went away from Nova Scotia - it was a lifeline for her to her buddies back in NS. She is grouching lately tho because of the high school element joining. My cousin (who like me is in her mid-40's) joined recently and invited me to join - I refuse as I think it should stay as something for the young.
  12. M Hockaday from Calgary, Canada writes:
    The nice thing about Facebook, as compared to MySpace, is the lack of video blogging and shameless self-promotion that goes on.
    I can't even look at MySpace without being disgusted with the amount of "listen to my band, listen to me singing, look at me dance, read my oh-so-beautiful poetry" even though most of them suck. Facebook is nice because you don't have to filter through that junk to see how a person is doing.
  13. Hornsworth Portswiler from Torottawa, Canada writes: It should be whatever its owners want it to be, and it will constantly morph. The fact is its a useful and robust large scale system that lets people and interest groups connect.

    I was at a party and someone was going on about how all it was 'for' is finding former high school classmates. Yet that is a very trivial use for most people. Usually, after finding others, people join some groups - social, activities, political, whatever - and from then on can easily stay on top of personal and group news and events. If you're connected/busy enough, it doesn't mean much, and there is certainly a fishbowl effect which can be partially mitigated by tweaking your privacy settings/listed information (people who do not use a known name and picture are missing the point).

    As for the age factor - Angelfire is a site that used to be very youth oriented. It had all kinds of announcements about how they were going to save the world, blah blah. Eventually those people matured and became part of larger, diverse communities, and there is probably a new Angelfire just like there are new Facebooks. Facebook is very smart for taking their system and applying it to worldwide communities, though there are other social networks it is the most effective implementation and will be a very significant component of modern communications, perhaps more so than email (though Facebook type services will become commoditized).

    By the way, myspace and Facebook are different in function, myspace is more about promotion.
  14. John Doe from toronto, Canada writes: ms. jan is right. kids join these communitys because they want a place to be someone there not. or in some cases, who they actually are. it seems every five minuets you hear a story about how some kids are getting suspended over making fun of there teachers on facebook.

    Theoretically its wrong to be making fun of the teachers. but give me a break, If kids are going to talk about stuff like that in public/person, obviously there going to do it online. schools use crap like this cause its easier to proove.

    the internet isn't anonymous but in some respects it just somehow doesn't seem right that teachers are plowing over these facebook sites just looking for excuses to punish teens with.
  15. C Web from Kingston, Canada writes: Facebook is so lame. When did people get too shy to just pick up the phone?

    If I wanted to see how my old classmates are doing, I'll just go down to the McDonalds drive thru and order some fries from them.
  16. Joel Canada from Calgary, Canada writes: Facebook is fine and fun - I've reconnected in a comfortable way with a lot of friends from the past - no problemo. And leave the G&M alone, S Bern! Why do some users of this fine conversational forum pick on the G&M? Surely it is Canadas Finest Newspaper. I'm frankly surprised the National Post didn't bite the green wiener years ago.
    Here's my bet: if Conrad Black goes to the crowbar hotel for 25 years, that will be a timely excuse for the Asperites to pull the plug on the money-loser.
  17. F S from Canada writes:
    Presumably by "young people"
    you mean anyone that's under the age of 75... Right ?
  18. The Natrix from Toronto, Canada writes: Facebook is popular across ALL ages. I've met some people in a specific group (in this case, a older car that has been discontinued) of whom have been helpful in questions (ie mechanical) and just talking about enjoyment in a particular thing. Some old highschool friends are also setting up a high school renunion through the site. Sure it can be a waste of time, but also a benefit.

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