I joined Facebook this week. I have resisted joining for awhile now. It has just screamed out "Look at me, I'm the popular thing right now!" And I chafe against that sort of thing. Even writing on this blog is a leap. But Facebook comes into play in relation to my occupation. I went to lunch as part of the process of interviewing a job candidate, and part of the discussion went to social media, and subsequently to Facebook. I had to ask the question, "What's the big deal?" The answers from the others in attendance weren't anything new -- it helps you keep in touch with people; it aggregates some aspects of online communication; it's fun, etc. We also talked about some potential for the industry I work in at the moment and how social media networks like the ones we had been talking about could have a place in this industry.

So, later in the day I went to the site and created an account.

It's been OK. The thing that's amazing about it is the ease with which you can find people and they can find you. Now I have a very straightforward philosophy about things in this regard. That is, after I walk through a door, I shut the door and keep walking. The space I walk through is interesting while I move through it. Then at the close of that time, I generally think "Well, that was interesting -- what's next?" So, you can see why something like Facebook is difficult for me. I don't necessarily want to be friends with everyone I've ever known. Cold as it is, I don't really care about most people I was acquainted with years ago. Those chapters of my life have been closed.

Twitter bugs me for similar but different reasons. Do people really feel that their instantaneous thought broadcasts are interesting? It reminds me of a scene which I have seen played out over and over. Class gets out at a nondescript school. As quickly as is possible, cellphones are out and numbers dialed. With one voice, everyone says "Hey! How are you? Yeah, just got out of class. What are you doing? Yeah, me too, I'm headed to my next class. Well, OK, I'll talk to you after my next class." How useless is that? What a pathetic need for validation.

While I'm on one, the other thing about social media systems is that my time is already taxed and at a premium. Do I want to open another channel and accept yet another stream of consciousness? Do I have time to spare to devote to this? The short answer is, No. I don't.

Now on to the positive. There are a scant few out there that I either already do keep in touch with or would enjoy getting in touch with again. For whatever reason some people rise above the herd of homogeneous livestock and make themselves interesting, at least to me. I have seen one or two on Facebook. Maybe there are others that I haven't seen on there yet. I look forward to seeing them and hope they send an invitation. It's also somewhat fascinating in a voyeuristic way to see what all these other people are doing and thinking. But that doesn't make them any more a friend than before. They wouldn't even recognize me on the street.

And that leads to me to my philosophy on this type of social media. I don't send invitations. I refuse to believe that linking to everyone I've ever known adds to any notion of worth on either side. The benefit is virtual just as the medium is virtual. I'd rather talk face to face with someone than see that they wrote on my wall, or IMed, emailed, or even phoned me. I am happy to get invitations, though. If someone wants to open that door that I've closed in my mind then they can. I may not respond. I may not be interested, or I may be more involved in something else at the moment. I believe in approving the things I take in, that's all.

Completely changing subjects, my Xbox 360 died yesterday with the "Red Ring of Death", heretofore called the RRoD. I've had this happen once before with my first Xbox 360. I have to say that despite the feeling of loss and withdrawal caused by its failure, the support experience is great. Both times I've seen a failure MS has footed the shipping bill and the repair bill. They've been knocked for the underlying problem, but their support effort has been stellar in my eyes. So, now I'm left for the time being with my PS3 and the original PlayStation/PS2's Metal Gear Solid games (1, 2, and 3). I have used the PS3 as a BluRay player to this point due to the lack of a compelling PS3 exclusive game (Drake's Fortune excluded... it was good). I should have my 360 back by the end of the week though.