

Is social networking a waste of time? - bootload
http://technology.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/tech_and_web/article3536749.ece

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kajecounterhack
Yes. But you do it anyway. Just like videogames.

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axod
I have had several emails so far today saying someones written on my funwall.
They've written some spam message asking me to invite lots of other users
which will write spam on their funwall...

Facebook is just turning into a spam idiotic universe :/

Time to delete my account I think...

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asmosoinio
And all those mails have a link to disable email from FunWall, right?

I agree that FB spam is annoying as hell, but they are trying to make it
better.

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axod
sure they do. But the default should be "I don't want to get spammed to
death". Also when I do login to my account these days it's just full with a
gazillion invites to numerous applications which seem to have their primary
function as "Inviting other people".

IDK. Maybe it's just not for me...

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Frocer
I disagree. In my opinion, if used right, social networking is the ultimate
organization and communication tool. Facebook has gradually evolved to become
an excellent organized address book. It keeps track of all my friends' contact
information, birthdays, etc. Sure, you can do all that in an Excel
spreadsheet, but could you always have the information up to date like
Facebook is?

In the same argument, you can also argue instant messengers and Emails are
total waste of time. Since god knows how much time employees waste chatting
over instant messengers, sending unrelated Emails? Hence, you also need to
look at the benefits of how much time Emails and IM saves you. There are
always benefits/disadvantage of every tool, it all depends on how you use it.

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mixmax
"Sure, you can do all that in an Excel spreadsheet, but could you always have
the information up to date like Facebook is?"

If you spend as much time as you do on facebook doing it, it would not only be
up to date, but also include links to google maps, favorite color and last
time you had latte together.

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Frocer
My point is if you have to keep track of all your friends' info, it's a very
time consuming and manual process, while on facebook, everything is updated by
the owner so you don't have to do any work.

Hence my original point of "if used right", it could be a useful communication
and organization tool.

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mixmax
I see what you're saying, and it's absolutely true. As you write it all lies
in the "if used right" - the problem is that for most people (me included)
facebook, linkedin, etc. tend to be timesinks because you just have to check
your friends tagwalls, pictures of their pets, etc.

So it's normally not used right, if the definition of right is not spending
any time on the site, and just using it as a reference.

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Raphael
Yes.

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ntoshev
No. Social networking in general builds social capital. This can increase
productivity and general well-being. It can also bring nothing to you or
anyone else, just as any other thing you do.

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jeffy
Yes, see: [http://jeffsrants.wordpress.com/2007/10/07/social-
networks-k...](http://jeffsrants.wordpress.com/2007/10/07/social-networks-
keep-me-out-of-the-loop/)

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imgabe
Isn't that its purpose?

