A few months ago I deleted most of my social networking accounts. Facebook, Twitter, Plaxo, Flickr, Tumblr, FriendFeed etc.
I get Facebook and Flickr.
Facebook you use as a souped up phone book or contact list. You don’t always keep in touch with people in your phone “book” (hah, does anyone still use a physical book to store this information?), and Facebook friends are the same. You don’t have to keep in touch, but their information is available when you need it. Since mostly everyone is on Facebook it becomes extremely useful to organize events. I think that is Facebook’s most useful function, at least ever since they took down Scrabolous.
Flickr you use to upload your photos. It’s simple. I like.
I kinda get Tumblr and Twitter, but not really.
Tumblr is blogging. I suppose I don’t understand having a blog AND a tumble log. It should all be one thing. There’s no such thing as “it’s not a proper blog post”. Anything can be a blog post. So just post it on your blog. Normal blogging software should already do what Tumblr does and it’s a shame that it doesn’t.
Twitter? Haha. I don’t get it. What’s stopping you from posting a 140 character message right on your blog? Seriously?
Yes, I know. I’m missing out on the social aspect of these things, they develop their own culture. With the reposting that happens on Tumblr to the whole network creating aspect of Twitter. I understand, but I’m not compelled enough (yet).
What bothered me with Facebook was people taking that “What are you doing right now?” thing way to seriously. “I’m 10 minutes from the ice cream store.”, “I’m 5 minutes away from the ice cream store now!!! Can’t wait!!!1”, “I’m standing in front of the ice cream store!!!”, “I’m opening the door of the ice cream store.”, “I’m inside the ice cream store.”, “What flavour should I try this time?”.
Ummm, no. So I select “Show less things from this person”, or whatever that option was. But then there’d be someone else who does the same thing. Sure, I could just stop using Facebook, or not use it as much. But I’m flawed like that. If it’s there, I’ll probably use it. I have difficulty letting go of things, and once I’ve let go it takes me a while to get back.
So eventually, I decided to delete my accounts. I probably shouldn’t have deleted Flickr, but I was on a roll. If it’s really important that I know what you’re doing or what you’re up to, I’ll ask/email you or you’ll email me and just tell me.
It’s not as if I’ll stay away forever. I’ll probably be back on some of these services. Maybe Twitter. I might give Twitter a chance and try and figure it out.