Monday, 31st August 2009
Face to Facebook!
Not many people know – or care – who Kevin Colvin is. He has the dubious honour of being possibly the first Face Book user to be called “Facebook Fairy”.
This term could have several possible meanings - someone who flits in and out of other people’s lives, doing random acts of kindness each time; a rioter who pretends he’s a nice gut in order to attract women; someone whose profile picture is an Amy Brown fairy; an effeminate heterosexual male… or any other description that fits the bill.
Kevin Colvin made the grade for something totally different. Mr Colvin used to be an intern at an Anglo Irish Bank's North American branch. He applied for contingency leave due to a ‘family emergency’ – and his manager Paul Davis gave him the required permission to miss work.
The rest is internet – or at least Face Book – history. Mr Colvin forgot that a “social network” is called that because it allows people to see what others are doing. So when eh posted an incriminating photograph of himself dressed as a fairy, at the Halloween party he had attended while away from the office, it led to his dismissal.
(See the compete story here; it is interesting to note that the sender of one of the e-mails had to specify that Face Book was “like My Space” - <http://valleywag.gawker.com/tech/your-privacy-is-an-illusion/bank-intern-busted-by-facebook-321802.php>.
The reason I joined Face Book was simple. In my line of work, I often find it necessary to contact people. I used to do this by poring over the telephone directory, or asking mutual friends whether they would contact this person and get back to me (having obtained the third party’s permission) with an e-mail address or telephone number; writing the name in a search engine address bar and adding “Malta” and taking it from there, or trying to contact a person at his place of work.
It occurred to me that Face Book would be the perfect combination of all of the above, as well as a neat shortcut; and I was right.
I also found it a better, quicker way to contact people on the Yahoo groups to which I belong – and, of course, connecting with members of my extended family, and their extended families – who, this being Malta, are also very often acquaintances of mine.
However, I soon discovered that if the world is an oyster, then Malta must be a limpet… everyone sticks to everyone else and comments about comings and goings and doings… not always in the politest of manners.
The friends-of-friends syndrome is extant in all social sites – but I would say that on Face Book it is at its best – and worst. I have often had to ask people “Do I know you?” And sometimes I get the feeling that people do not wan t me as a friend for myself, but for knowing what my acquaintances are doing – a smart touché, as it were.
I use Face Book as a quick way to keep in touch with family, friends, and acquaintances – and if I’m not careful, to waste time playing Bookworm, Word Drop and Staries, and to take inane quizzes, the proofreaders of which have obviously gone AWOL.
But I stop short at posting personal details other than those ‘everyone knows’ about me. My profile picture, after months of being just that (a profile silhouette) has no become a drawing of me by an artist friend. I do not post pictures – but I do post links to interesting articles on newspapers, and when the mood takes me, to my own articles or poetry when they appear online.
I also place several quotations, as well as prose and poetry writing submission links, as well as contest opportunities that have no fees. Sometimes, there are restrictions upon eligibility for these and certain giveaways – but I always specify this.
It is annoying to see that some people use their “Wall” (to the uninitiated that is what a person’s personal page is called) in order to jibe at others, or to say how utterly drunk they were, or to pass on messages that could lend people in trouble.
Used prudently and tactfully, Face Book is indeed fun.
Used sloppily and heedlessly, it has been known to allow potential burglars to find out when homes will be empty – as well as prospective gatecrashers to know when parties will be held by teenagers whose parents will be away.
And let’s not forget that, when you turn up for an interview in a demure dress, coupled with sensible pumps, you will definitely not be fooling the people on the board who would have seen your photo albums and read the racy comments left about them by your so-called “friends”.
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Comments
Facebook can be useful to some and it's passtime to others. Good to spend a few minutes exploring it but again, I find it more of having some fun than actually corresponding.
But then, as the Japanese say: De gustibus non est disputandum.