More than 300 million people have a Facebook profile. My intention with this blog is to address those of you who have made a conscious decision to stay away. Though your ranks dwindle daily, there are many of you. This is understandable – a social movement that became so popular so fast must engender skepticism.
One of the biggest fears that I hear is the concern about privacy. Facebook has many privacy settings that allow you to set up how much or how little people can see about you and your profile. You choose what information to share with others. Don’t want someone who isn’t your ‘friend’ to be able to see your photos? No problem. Don’t want your nosy neighbor to be able to see your status updates? Done.
Facebook has recently added even more privacy settings so that you have control over virtually any privacy matter you can think of. You can set it up so that your former colleagues see one version of your profile, while your family sees another. Choosing your privacy settings should be your first move after creating a Facebook profile.
Another common reason for not joining Facebook is that you don’t want people to know your business. That’s fair! You can join Facebook and use it only as a tool to see information from others. You don’t have to EVER post a status update if you don’t want to. You don’t HAVE to post photos of yourself. Heck, you don’t even HAVE to go out searching for friends. They will naturally find and request you through people that you’ve allowed to be your friends.
Some people think that by joining Facebook, they are signing up for a huge time commitment. Not so. You can log-in only once a month just to approve/reject friends if you want. Yes, it is true that over half of all Facebook users log on daily, but that’s not because it’s a requirement – it’s because it’s fun.
(By the way, it’s ok to not accept friend requests. The person is not notified that you did not accept. Don’t accept requests from people that you don’t know, and don’t think twice about removing a friend if they have made you regret your acceptance).
Think you’re too old for Facebook? That’s ridiculous! Perhaps you didn’t know that the fastest growing demographic of Facebook users is people over 50. Facebook is a wonderful resource for families who don’t all live in the same area. If your kids live in a different state, you will be able to see photos that they post and their status updates. In time, it will make it feel like you’re not so far from each other. That’s the whole point of Facebook, to make people feel more connected.
I could write a very long article about all the reasons that I feel you should be on Facebook, but that’s for another day. What I want to know is, what are your personal reasons for holding out on Facebook? I’ve tried to hit the big ones here, but it’s different for different people.
Please leave a comment, start a conversation.
By Amanda Bashore, CFP®
arbashore@taaginc.com
www.taaginc.com
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Well written. It hits on privacy, which is probably most people's biggest concerns. It also hits on the fact that you don't need to feel pressure for not accepting a friend request. Great thoughts.
ReplyDeleteAmanda, I have/had a facebook, but I failed to write down the facebook number, and for whatever reason, my birthdate is not accepted. Have you ever tried to contact facebook for assistance? Believe me, it simply doesn't work, and this in itself is frustrating. Walt Hoffmann
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