Call me loco but am I getting more Facebook friend requests from total strangers then ever before? Not talking about "friend recommendations" or a "friends in common" request but total strangers. I am, I'm not crazy.
I've been writing recently about how email clients and the act of emailing has evolved thanks to social networking tools. Earlier this year it was reported that texting, IMing, Tweets and social networking has outpaced the actual "phone call" or voice interactions we once had with each other. It's far more efficient to send out blast messages and inform dozens or hundreds at a time rather then making one phone call to one person at a time. Yes, I agree we loose that personal touch unless of course the blast can relay our creative or our persona. We all know how well our emotions and charisma can be translated into the digital stream - or not.
I recently had a conversation with my good friend and co-worker Danielle aka @starfocus about the increased number of friend requests I have seen since opening up my Gmail profile and the Buzz bizz. I think we are in two different camps on this one. Where Danielle sees Facebook as a tool to connect to as many people who relate or respond to her passionate love for wildlife, I have struggled over the years as to who I should be friending in Facebook and why.
Originally it was connecting to folks I had met or interacted with on a professional level before I had gotten started with LinkeIn. The professional people I wanted to stay connected with on a personal level who went beyond LinkedIn made the FaceBook list. Then of course co-workers started to jump on the list - this was good and bad. Of course came the eventual class mates, old friends, distant friends requests. Eventually family who ventured into the Digital Immigrant land, but even that was met with resistance. Do I really want to mix this menagerie of friends in one place? I know folks who actually keep separate Facebook accounts for this very reason - talk about going Loco, I would be bonkers keeping it all straight.
But it's too late, Facebook has become the mechanism to communicate for everything. I have seen spouses sitting in the same room having conversations on their mobiles . . . with each other! It's cute and it's bizarre all at the same time.
Recently my wife who teaches high school students overheard her kids stating to each other at various times in the day: "oh just Facebook me" or "no, don't email me, send it my face". Is this possibly why Google has transposed it's Gmail client to be more socially interactive? Why Microsoft Outlook will be placing Social network gadgets into the mix like the OSC? ( Outlook Social Connector - yes, another acronym to learn ) They already have some plug-in's like with Yammer and LinkedIn - Facebook, MySpace and Twitter are logical next step progressions, yet I have to ask: Where is the line now?
For those of us charged with infrastructure and security concerns of our respective organizations the hair on the back of your neck should be standing at attention, mine is. That line in the sand is quickly fading and that English chick who I don't know but wants to be my Facebook friend is looking awfully tempting . . .
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