Facebook the other Myspace?

[Ian]

well, another one bites the dust. maybe one of you facebook users can inform us non-facebook users about what elder ballard's facebook profile looks like.

dad
mom
ian
angela
oliver
simon
lily
steve
jane
bryn
ann
edward
betsy
margaret
emma

our numbers are dwindling, but, "the fewer men, the greater share of honour... we few, we happy few..."

[Angela]

I love the St. Crispin's Day speech!!

[Steve]

That was instruction given by Elder Ballard for our benefit. He's got his hands full with missionary work as it is. The church's media department has a Facebook page, though. Regardless of whether or not you choose to participate, you can no longer make the blanket statement that the "right thing" is to avoid Facebook. That's simply not correct. Bites the dust? I think not. I am choosing to participate and I am doing so for a good, righteous reason. I just feel that by placing myself out there, I can further withdraw my candle from its bushel and let my light so shine. I'm not using it as a dating service, nor to fill a gap in my social life. I just want others to know who I am and what I believe.

President James E. Faust: In all my long years of life I have tried not to hide who I am and what I believe. I cannot recall a single instance when it hurt my career or I lost valued friends by humbly acknowledging that I was a member of this Church.

However, it's good to remind the various Facebook users in the family that those who try to justify countless hours wasted on the site will find that many blessings have slipped away. Of that I am certain.

[Ian]

i have never made a blanket statement that the 'right thing' is to avoid facebook. the prophet has not told us to join facebook, nor has he told us to reject it. i only speak for myself. i don't begrudge you for joining facebook.

[Tuly]

o.k this is scary!

Details of 100 million Facebook users published online
Users' personal information cannot now be made private, security consultant says
msnbc.com
updated 7/29/2010 8:59:38 AM ET

The personal details of 100 million Facebook users have been collected and published online in a downloadable file, meaning they will now be unable to make their publicly available information private.

However, Facebook downplayed the issue, saying that no private data had been compromised.

The information was posted by Ron Bowes, an online security consultant, on the Internet site Pirate Bay.

Bowes used code to scan the 500 million Facebook profiles for information not hidden by privacy settings. The resulting file, which allows people to perform searches of various different types, has been downloaded by several thousand people.

This means that if any of those on the list decide to change their privacy settings on Facebook, Bowes and those who have the file will still be able to access information that was public when it was compiled.

Bowes’ actions also mean people who had set their privacy settings so their names did not appear in Facebook’s search system can now be found if they were friends with anyone whose name was searchable.

[Steve]

Hehe, the funniest part of this whole debacle that's hit the news is the fact it's hitting the news. Anyone with a Facebook account could have gone and done the same thing--can do the same thing. The information in that release is no different than the info people have already shared on their own through the Facebook settings. So if users are freaked out about this, they probably should evaluate their privacy settings.

News items like this, though, hopefully show people that the Internet is not a close, quiet social circle. Facebook is an easy way to get in touch with people you've known throughout your life, but I still think it's a poor substitute for real, wholesome social interaction. If the news "scares" you into pulling away from Facebook, well, hurray for the news!

[Ian]

the anti-facebook league of intelligentsia

[John]

Oh thank you, Ian, for the validation of my feelings. The link is a refreshing source of provocative reason.

Here's one of my favorites:
“A dead thing can go with the stream, but a living thing can go against it.”
(G.K. Chesterton)

And another:
"I told him he was a very sad man, that collecting Facebook friends is the equivalent of being a catlady, collecting numerous Himalayans, which you have neither the time nor the inclination to feed. 'You have obviously never been on Facebook,' he said. 'It's so much worse than collecting cats.'"
(Matt Labash)