You won’t find me on Facebook?

I’m still trying to figure out how to get a regular rhythm going with this blog. Multiple topics abound from the politics of coach selection in youth baseball to finding the time to get a simple web site done for my neighbor (who offers off-leash dog hikes in the Bay Area). But something caught my attention recently — definitely worth sharing.

You won’t find me on Facebook!

When everyone and their mother (literally) is on Facebook, it might not be prudent to argue the wisdom of crowds. Arguably, people I’ve lost touch with since high school, college and other places have “found” me on Facebook and perhaps the power of the social graph is pretty obvious to everyone. I however found this argument quite compelling, Facebook has its place as a mechanism to find, share and connect with members in your social circle.

But do I really need to go and “Like” a pair of jeans on Facebook? Do I need to “Share” a wall post about the latest achievement of my 11 year old? And in my opinion, the absolute worst is wishing a friend Happy Birthday on Facebook? Are we doing it to wish the friend or to tell everyone that I’m wishing the friend a Happy Birthday, and I have the time to login to Facebook and write a wall post, but probably not find the friend’s email address and sent a private birthday greeting.

The issue, much like charitable giving, is having a clarity of purpose. Do we give without caring about whether we are recognized or do we give so that we are secretly pleased to see our name among the list of donors? This post is sort of meant as a nod to the Free Software Foundation folks, who make many valid arguments about the privacy, data collection and proprietary aspects of Facebook. You may or may not agree with these arguments, because for the vast majority of us, the notion of free software or open-source or similar topics might all be Greek and Latin. However, the interesting by-product is the critical examination of a platform that arguably offers marketers the best place to target their advertising messages as derived from mining the micro-interactions of the population with Like buttons.

I might have a Facebook account, but the more I think about, you’re not likely to find me on Facebook anymore.