Darryl Patterson

I signed up to Facebook for one reason: An easy way for me to connect to my tusted friends and family. Sure, I’ve been a bit a Facebook Friend junkie adding pretty much anyone I’ve met IRL, but I still have that boundary. I post pictures of my kids, I’ll let my FB friends know what events I’m going to, I reconnect with friends I’ve been out of touch with for a long long time. Facebook is my primary way of staying in touch with those people that have been closest to me over the years.

Twitter on the other hand, I use as a true public-facing microblog. I know that when I post something on Twitter that it’s there for all to see. The things I Twitter are very different from the things I would say are on my mind.

Facebook doesn’t seem to get this. The Facebook status is fundamentally different from Twitter – people tend to use them quite differently. I get it that Facebook sees Twitter as competition they have to one-up (why they’re taking the Microsoft “we can’t buy you so we’ll bury you” approach is beyond me), but blurring this line isn’t good for their business. I haven’t really taken the time to fully appreciate the changes to Facebook, but I don’t feel confident that the things I post on Facebook are not public – either directly or indirectly.

I already had a lot of reservations about Facebook, despite it being a very effective tool to keep in touch with friends. This most recent change is most likely going to make me use it a little less. Trust, Who Do ya?