I'm a fairly open person in real life. To talk to me is to know me. That said, all this Web 2.0 Myspace, Facebook & now OpenSocial by Google gives me pause. Yes, I write a "semi-anonymous" blog where I share a lot of personal info, but I'm very mindful about it. I have no interest in plastering my face all over the web or giving out all my information.
I'm from the "old-school" generation of web-browsing & posting. I believe in the philosophy of "Lurking" on sites. Aside from this blog, I only really post on private forums. I'm very cautious and deliberate about when I spend my money online. I believe in the beauty of online pseudonyms. 99% of my online interactions occur in World of Warcraft. Sometimes I play with people I don't know, but usually I usually only play with my real life friends and members of my guild. My guild-mates (most of whom I've never met) are the closest thing I have to the effects of these social networking sites.
Perhaps it's my old-school attitude, but I just don't get social-networking for the sake of social-networking. Then again I never understood the bar scene, blind dates or speed-dating. Perhaps I'm lucky but all of my relationships grew out of mutual interests and day-to-day social interactions. It's due to this lack of prospective that I refrain from completely dissing these sites. I just don't ever intend to use any of these sites and I encourage people to think before they try them.
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