How Facebook and I Kissed and Made Up

A few months ago, Facebook and I called it quits after a lengthy but volatile relationship.

After being in lust to the point where I visited Facebook several times a day, the social network service started to lose its appeal. The hype, the invitations to groups that have little purpose, the onslaught of productivity-killing applications, friend requests from total strangers, and the controversy over Beacon all started to be too much.

So, we split up. It was over. There was no going back. It was time to spend time with other services such as Twitter.

At first, it felt liberating. Not feeling like you had to change your Facebook status or deal with friend requests was amazing. It also felt rebellious. After all, no one leaves Facebook because everyone’s on Facebook so why would you leave?

After a few months, however, things changed. As someone who’s admittedly a digital animal, not being on Facebook felt wrong.

As PlanetEye’s director of community, it’s important for me to be engaged in a wide variety of communities so not being on Facebook didn’t make sense. As well, more people I know in real life (aka real friends) continued to join Facebook, which meant I was missing from action.

So, I caved and went back to Facebook.

Much to my surprise, it’s a healthier relationship. The good thing is there’s no lust in the mix. We spend quality time together, and then do other things.

A big part of our reunion is Facebook has changed. The application “noise” has evaporated, I get a few friend/group requests but not that many, and there’s far less hype or Mark Zuckerberg-mania.

As well, Facebook has some new, appealing features. In particular, I like the ability to do instant-messaging. And I’ve always been a fan of how people can share interesting videos, articles and blog posts.

So, it’s official. Facebook and I have kissed and made up.

Technorati Tags: Facebook, social networks