The Facebook Society

Today is the last day of my self-imposed exile from Facebook. I knew it would be difficult to stay away from everyone's life stream, but I didn't realize the social cost of not participating in Facebook. "The Social Network" tells a fictionalized version of Facebook's founding:

The movie properly portrays why Facebook is successful. Within seven years of its founding it became part of the social infrastructure. I have a few observations on how it has moved past helping college students hook up:

• Gone are the days where people ask direct questions about your life. You are supposed to know at all times, without asking, a person's job, relationship status, baby photos, and activities. There is such an assumption of people knowing your life status that it is almost rude for someone to ask. You should know already.
• The Facebook stalk is now an important step to establishing a friendship. I have met several people who have asked me why I don't have a Facebook account. The friend request signals, "Hey, you're cool, we should get to know each other better," or at least "I could talk to you again."
• A last name is better than a phone number. If your relationship status reads "single," Facebook becomes a dating site. You can learn more about a person by reading their Facebook profile than you can in ten dates. A Facebook profile is passive honesty. Saying your account is deactivated draws suspicion.
• Maybe this last one means I should call people more often, but non-family friends genuinely sound surprised when I phone them to catch up. As a result, I didn't call many people. Do people not call to catch up anymore? Is the phone conversation dead?

If you want to contact me, drop me a friend request: http://www.facebook.com/SeanBMcGregor/ I promise I am cool, and you want to get to know me better.