TWC Roundup 1 - Social Networking

TOPIC: Google has created profile pages, Facebook is filling up more every day, and then there's Twitter. Is social networking helping or just becoming oversaturated? What's the most annoying behaviors people have online?

This Week's Van Buren Boys

Stephanie - Washington D.C. mining industry fundraiser
Stephanie has lived in DC for several years now. She is a young Republican and represents the future of her party. When not working hard, she enjoys supporting mascot-like wildlife.

Dave - Philadelphia sports columnist
Dave has won numerous national awards for his craft, which he supports no matter what happens to the industry. He is a Penn graduate and loves his beshert very much (pictured here).


Ben - international spy
Ben spent several years in CT not far from yours truly. He loves the Beatles, Reagan and the Yankees. Little is known about his past.





Brett - Philadelphia-based venture capitalist
Brett has spent seven years in venture capital, primarily focused on early stage tech companies. He is also a Penn graduate and as such, has detailed knowledge of things our other panelists can only hope to comprehend. He resides in Philadelphia with his wife, dog and love of bagels.


Stephanie

You know, I have to admit, when the whole Facebook phenomenon started, I was really excited about it. It was a brand new idea in the world of social networking that seemed to be created specifically for those of us in the "Millenials" generation...and it was. I'd be lying if I said I didn't spend 8 hours of my first day as a member of "the Book" searching for anyone and everyone I knew and, of course, for the best picture of myself I could find.

It was a great way to be distracted as a sophomore in college from writing papers, studying for tests, and anything else I was supposed to be doing to better my education... until I realized how utterly creepy the website was. It's stalking! I started feeling like a stalker, thank God I learned how to use all those damn privacy settings. The only one I wish they had created was a AUTO-DECLINE for the times people were just trying to get as many people with the same last name as them as friends... seriously guys?

Anyway, over the past couple of years, I've learned that Facebook isn't such a bad thing if you use it for the right reasons and set up your page in a safe way. My job depends on social networking and with the ever developing privacy settings, I can use this site for work and to keep in touch with people I otherwise wouldn't, so I don't TOTALLY bash Faceook... but honestly, I don't need to hear that your favorite underwear still has the days of the week on it in 25 Random Things about you.

Now for these other sites... I'm not even going to touch MySpace... seriously, I'd have to get tested... and the other big one...Twitter. I was told that this "Twitter" phenomenon was the next big thing for fundraising (which is what I do) so I started an account. Now, maybe it's just because I can't use Twitter for fundraising yet (it's an association thing...) but I don't have the attention span to be constantly informing people (in 140 characters or less mind you) what I'm doing. Do they really care? And why do I want people knowing what I'm doing every second of my day anyway? In this mind set, I tried to deactivate my account... THEY WON'T LET ME! I'm roped in. They suckered me into it, and now there's no way out... I feel like a Cy Young Award winning pitcher in the Steinbrenner office...

Anyways, I get the whole idea of the social networking thing. I know I bashed a little, but I think when used in the right way, Facebook can be a great thing, Twitter... not so much. For God's sake it sounds like something women do in their spare time anyways... and yes fellas, we do... and if one of us tells you otherwise... they're lying.

Dave

Here are my thoughs while the lone girl of the Van Buren boys is twittering herself. Contest, anyone?

Facebook is definitely cool. It's a good way to keep up with friends you'd probably never keep up with, while finding pictures of yourself you'd never want to see. But yes, like everything else, there are annoying parts. The most annoying part: that the old people have taken over. I mean, come on. It's like we were the original explorers who ventured to California, discovered the gold, enjoyed our riches... only to watch as our fathers followed us there five years later and made us share our fortune with them.

Invariably, it's the old people, along with a few other undesirables, who are always posting unnecessary status updates about their five favorite athletes whose last names begin with S and have more than three children out of wedlock. But those updates are nothing compared to the ex-girlfriend of an old friend writing things like "I hate everything about my life" 37 seconds after writing "Today, I am going to the gym to feel better about myself!" ... or the random girl you think you might have gone on one J-date with writing how she wants to be more like Tina Fey.

I'm telling you, for every important post about a good friend's new job, there are about 1,000 posts that make you want to make you smash your brain against the side of your Desktop.

As for the other ones, gmail and gchat changed my life for the better; Myspace was OK for a while until Veronica Bigboob and her friends kept messaging me but didn't mean it; and with Twitter, I won't pass judgement since I've never used it. But it does seem like oversaturation, considering Facebook accomplishes the same function with other better features. But I might be able to be swayed by a Twitter addict (not THAT kind of Twitter addict, Stephanie.)

One last thing: I totally agree with Stephanie's comment about meeting someone on Facebook because they have the same last name. How ridiculous! (Shut up, Brett.)

Ben

If there were two great things about Facebook it was the ability to look at hot girls' pictures and being friends with people who were in college and only college. Both are gone. I think Facebook went downhill once it opened itself up to the world and granted people the ability to choose who looks at their pictures (I mean, the nerve!). Maybe I didn’t have a problem with people over 18 having it but I think on the inside I’m an elitist and wanted a social network with college-educated people. It felt like an exclusive club and it was. Once my 14-year-old neighbor and her 84-year-old grandmother poked me on Facebook, it got weird. Now that I’m a few years out of college, Facebook has lost most of its appeal (aka reminders of last nights party). My desire or need to post on peoples walls has dropped and aside from party invites I really have no use for it.

I will say that it does bring people together, especially for the older generation. I know that many in my parents' generation have reconnected with friends who they haven't talked with since high school - but instead of putting up pictures of partying they put up pictures of their recent trip to Vermont to go antiquing.

Twitter I have, but I don’t fully understand why A) I have it and B) its here. It’s a status website. There are a few situations I see use for; being at a concert and updating setlists, sports updates, being held in a foreign country (Texas) against your will, or cracking jokes. It has its moments, but I try to stick to people who wont write about their day and provide me entertainment. If you can make me laugh then you got me 30 seconds closer to the end of the day. I maintain that it's worthless, yet i just checked to see if there were updates.

Brett

Some thoughts while waiting for this guy to come put me out of my Devils-related misery. I apologize if I'm babbling, but if you want to know why, read this and then this .

Anyway, by way of background, I have been on Facebook since 2004 and have seen it evolve from being on just a few college campuses and requiring a .edu email address to its current incarnation as a place to find embarrassing elementary school class pictures of my father. In between, I have been poked, had sheep thrown at me, nearly left the site under a deluge of unwanted app invitations and sported a profile picture of myself in a giant purple sombrero. I have come to realize that it is difficult to assess the impact of Facebook because it is a moving target. The site seems to reinvent itself every few months, as apps phase in and out, newsfeeds are introduced and people continue to argue over what the hell a poke means. At the moment, the two biggest draws to the site seem to be photos and status updates.

Ben, I'm guessing I'm a couple of years older than you, because I am starting to see the other side of the "looking at hot girls on Facebook" phenomenon. At some point, you are innocently looking at pictures of girls you used to know (OK, used to date) and suddenly, where you expect to see their picture, you come face to face with a sonogram. Yep, my exes are becoming mommies, and Facebook is helpfully pointing this out with status updates, in utero photography, gifts of pretend rattles and comments on all of the above.

Aside from reinforcing that: a) I am old, and b) fetuses (feti?) are creepy-looking, this points to what I see as the biggest problem on Facebook, Twitter and most other social sites - oversharing. It's wonderful that you brush your teeth every day. I'm sure your dentist is very proud. I just don't need to see a status update telling me about it. Every day, we are inundated with the mundane details of everyone else's life that we didn't previously know specifically because we didn't care enough to ask. That doesn't even begin to cover people who post their most embarrassing exploits for all the world to see. At some point, these things might come back to haunt you.

Don't get me wrong, there are a lot of great things about these sites. I have reconnected with old friends through Facebook, found a ton of interesting links on Twitter and have spent considerable thought trying to find a redeeming quality for Myspace. I am just not sure where the "line" is between what we do and don't need to know, whether we're talking about 140 characters or more.

Evan

First off, I would like to thank the inaugural class of the Van Buren Boys. You did not disappoint, and any conversation that included the "contest," sports misery and fetusi is surely a sign of good things to come.

I have been a big Facebook addict for awhile. I never got into MySpace - while it seemed cool and original to be able to edit HTML on the page, this often led to tragic results (I think I once had a seizure from glitter and sparkles on someone's page, and it wasn't even ESPN).

The problem with Facebook is that it tried to copy Twitter by making everyone's status more prominent on the page. While everyone knows of a few friends that consistently make you laugh, the large majority involve a list of people's daily activities and whatever is making them sad.

Don't get me wrong - being able to reach people like this is useful, and a big way this site gets traffic. That said, I have some helpful notes:

1. If we live in different states, do not invite me to your events. While you may think its easier to just invite all of your friends, I will be racked with guilt for the next week while I sit home. I'm Jewish.
2. There are very few useful Facebook apps out there. I am obsessed with Mafia Wars, but other than that, if I wanted to play your game, I would join it. Given the world we live in now, when Facebook says I was attacked by pirates, it's entirely possible that it's real. I don't need that kind of stress.
   
3. If you are truly upset at your ex girlfriend/boyfriend/circus instructor, either tell them to their face, or deal with your pain silently. When I see "B*tches should know when to shut their mouths...UGH whatever" on your wall, it makes me either want to hit you or get you a trashy reality show on VH1, likely involving a former member of Poison.
   

Of course there are other tips and tricks for each service, but the bottom line is that these services, however annoying, are a good way to keep in touch.

Thanks to our panel for participating and stay tuned next week for another installment of Three Word Chant Roundtables!