Sorry, No Facebook For Me!!

[cousinlucky]

My cousins adult daughter keeps requesting that I " join her on Facebook " and I just keep declining. I sent her an email today containing this link:
Letter Re: Internet Privacy Practices For Preppers - SurvivalBlog.com

I sure hope that reading the article gets her to back off of her request!

[MikeTbob]

In my experience it has been the absolute best way to deal with people such as your cousins daughter's, is just to politely but firmly explain that you have no desire to join for multiple reasons. Rarely does one get the exact message that you want to convey from an Internet link. Ten people could read that link and come away with ten different opinions on why you sent that link.
Just my .02 cents

[jayd512]

Same here.
It took me what seems like forever to convince people that I have no interest, at all, in joining them on Facebook. Or MySpace. Or whatever else is out there.
Like I said, it took a while. But I finally got the point across.

[nixblog]

I just decline people politely by saying, "I prefer not to indulge in sharing cute puppy and kitten photo's, playing mindless games like Farmville, joining peoples circle of friends who I wouldn't have for a friend in real life and indulging in monotonous chat that bores me sh**less"

They seem to understand after that...

[elija]

Usually I just ask why I would want to give up any right to privacy just so corporations I wouldn't buy from in the real world can continue to advertise to me? In one special case of a life long friend, I said "Cool! I've been looking for somewhere to show off [i]those /i] photos!"

[cousinlucky]

Is that what people do with Facebook?

[jayd512]

Is that what people do with Facebook?

Not all of them. Most of the content on Facebook is trivial content...
I'm having a great time in Arizona.
I'm loving Jamaica.
...blah, blah, blah.

Some folks, however, do share those types of photos and stories.

On the flip side of that, I know a few people that have managed to contact friends from middle school... 10 years later.
Facebook is, inherently, a wonderful idea. But society's usage of it...
Not my scene.

[MikeTbob]

Is that what people do with Facebook?

I think you should go check it out at least....then decide whether you want to use it or not. All you need is a valid email address and a fake name just to check it out. If you decide you like it, delete the fake account and create a real one. I use Facebook daily to keep in touch with co-workers and Family members that I haven't seen in a long time. There are controls that you can use on Facebook to try to limit your privacy issues. I think the real privacy issues are when dealing with the Facebook App on cell phone or mobile devices while enabling the GPS and unsecured WIFI networks which lets everyone (that you allow) know your location. It has it's advantages and disadvantages. It's up to you to weigh the pros and cons to find out if you want to use it or not. You could also try Google+ which is a Facebook clone but made by Google.

Forum Members: I can send anyone an invite for Google+ if you want to check it out, I have 8 invites.

[MASONTX]

My wife loves it, and spends quite a bit of time on facebook. On the other hand, I tell people, "I don't do social network sites due to security risks." They may think I am an old fuddy duddy, but I rarely have to argue the point.

[jayd512]

I once had the question put to me: Without Facebook, how do you keep in touch with people?
My answer confused the hell out of them: If I can't drive over to see them, a phone call works quite well. Failing that, I'll go old-school... email.