To Facebook or not to Facebook?

That is the question. Whether ’tis nobler in my mind to suffer the taunts and ridicule of insistent friends or to take arms against a sea of Facebook fans and by opposing, silence them?

My apologies to Bill Shakespeare forthe hatchet job on his Hamlet soliloquy…

For those of you who slid by high school English with Cliffsnotes, the short version is my friends are determined to get me to join Facebook and I don’t want to. The way they tell it, I’m the last 20-something on Earth still not using the popular social media site.

I just haven’t been able to muster up the enthusiasm or energy to create a profile and I’ve remained unconvinced of its merits despite arm-twisting, badgering, rolling of eyes and even offers to create a Facebook page for me from numerous friends.  

But yesterday I started to see a glimmer of reason in their newest argument. One of my cleverer friends casually mentioned that my 2009 resolution to be more social would be a lot easier if I was on Facebook. Don’t you hate it when you’re determined to be stubborn and someone says something to make you reconsider?

Apparently, Facebook is the main hub where our group posts pictures, event invitations and other random pieces of information to keep everyone in the know. I could see her point since I’ve been left out of impromptu happy hours and meet-ups before only to hear, “Oh sorry, we posted the invitation on Facebook.”

I’m still not enthusiastic about it, but I’m now at least willing to look at the pluses and minuses to determine if it really is worth the time and effort.

On the plus side, it probably will make me more social with friends – both in-person and online – simply because I’ll be visible. I have the tendency to disappear sometimes and friends have admitted they forget to ask me to join them when they haven’t seen me for a while. Just being online and active on Facebook will probably up my invitations and potentially improve the quality of my friendships.

Another positive is the opportunity to catch up with people with whom I’ve lost touch. Of course, I did the same thing with Myspace and a year later I don’t talk to any of these old acquaintances. So maybe this one is actually a wash…

One of my main motivators would be the ability to see photos on Facebook. In the last two weeks, I’ve heard so many times that a “cute picture” of me is posted on a friend’s Facebook page but I can’t log on to see it.

Some say that Facebook is also a great place for networking, which is something I am very interested in right now. But that said, I’m not really a fan of potential employers or professional contacts reading about my relationship status, seeing my latest party photos or knowing “I’m feeling grouchy today.” So this one would be a wash as well.

Which brings me to the negatives. The big one: I already spend an inordinate amount of time online – literally 9-10 hours at work and then another 3 hours at home. I remember when I first joined Myspace I checked my page almost compulsively and quite honestly I don’t want to become addicted to another social media site.

Speaking of Myspace, it took me forever to get my page looking the way I wanted and now, less than a year later, I can’t even tell you the last time I logged on. I’m also a little worried that as soon as I sign up and spend time on it, everyone will have moved on to the next social craze.

Next, despite writing this blog I’m actually a pretty private person (thus the anonymity) and I’m not sure I want even my friends/ acquaintances knowing the minute I upload a photo or change my relationship status. I tell my friends exactly as much as I’m willing to share based on our relationship, but you can’t really designate that on Facebook.

Lastly, look how creepy their ad is…and people are surprised social media sites are associated with stalkers and pedophiles??? What’s that you say, I can’t hold it against Facebook that their ad guys are imbeciles? Oh fine.

So there are all my arguments. What do you think, should I join Facebook? Since I know you would never lead me astray, dear readers, I’m going to leave it up to you.  Let me know what you think in the comments, and please be kind…

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