So, I finally caved and joined everyone’s favorite facebook. I’m still not sure all what I’d like to do about this. My goals were just to keep in touch with cousins, who seem to use it pretty extensively, and maybe share some pictures with close friends. So, to start, I feel like I need some rules. I’ll be working on these over the next few days, with feedback, if there’s anyone left out there.
Rule 1: I will not fill out any profile information. This is not negotiable. You know they never delete this stuff, as if we don’t already give enough of our private lives away to Google.
Rule 2: I will not, under any circumstances, “friend” you if you’re a co-worker. Sorry. If you get a new job, and we became friends while working together, perhaps I will reconsider then.
Rule 3: I will not, at the moment, friend you if we have not had some sort of contact in the past 12 months. This could be email, IM, or phone. Beyond that, I won’t flat out reject you, but if we don’t keep in touch, do I need to know what you’re doing right now? Probably not. I won’t flat out reject you, just leave you hanging. Like I said, these are in a process of revision. I will friend you if we haven’t been in contact in the past 12 months. I will not, however, share my baby pictures with you. Seems reasonable.
Rule 4: (Credit to Dave for this one.) I will not ever refer to “friending” you. It’s annoying, and with the exception of these rules (being a formal document, correct verbiage is required!) I will go with “ping me/you” for the nerds, and “stalk me/you” for the non-techies. If you catch Dave saying it, you can punch him in the gut. If you catch me, I’ll buy you a drink next time I see you.
That’s it for the moment. Ultimately, when the rules are complete, I will copy and paste the applicable rule (just 2 at the moment) into the message I send (if it lets me) when I turn down your “friending”. If you have any suggestions, let me know. Like I said: my goal is to connect with close friends and all my cousins.
Update 1: I’m searchable at the moment, but once I feel like I’ve got most of the family and friends I’m looking for added, I’ll probably disappear from search entirely. Again, if we keep in touch, I can always tell you where to find me.
Update 2: I don’t know how I feel about groups yet. At this time, I’m going to avoid them.
Update 3: Moved my official version 1.0 to a dedicated page. Stripped out some stuff to simplify, formalize the document.
