The Way Too Social Network

     I hate Facebook. There, I said it. I really really REALLY hate it!
Whew! That felt great............

     Why do I hate Facebook? First of all, I feel like I was forced to join. No, there wasn't a gun held up against my head. I was a happy member of Orkut for a few years. I was pretty crazy about Orkut, jumping on my computer as soon as I got home from work to read my latest scraps, (wall posts for you Facebook freaks) checking out friend requests, looking for interesting communities to join. I made a lot of friends there too. Then one day I noticed my friend Omar posted this little note "Facebook is better".

     That was the beginning of the end. Slowly all my friends started leaving Orkut. So I joined too so I could stay connected. But I never felt like I was having as much fun as I did with Orkut. There is way too much random crap on Facebook. I don't like that when I open my home page I have to read that Alison and Jessica shared a link or Cynthia liked Carlos B's video. Who cares? Not me. But I suppose a lot of people do care, especially the ones who who post something like this to their walls "Just got home from work, super tired...." Or "Just made a great cup of coffee!" Or even "Man I gotta pee!" Just kidding on that last one, but you get the idea. I don't care about Farmville, and I've got no urge to "poke" anyone. As for friend requests, I have to laugh when people I went to high school or college with that I never liked, never hung out with, or I remember them actively disliking me sending a friend request. What for? I just don't get it.

     I have to admit there is one thing I like on Facebook, but at the same time it's totally ruined for me. I love "Who Wants to be A Millionaire", and while I was on the Millionaire website I noticed there was a link to the Facebook version. It's actually a lot of fun, you play live with other people and the questions are pretty challenging. I got hooked pretty quick and then when I tried to play more games they asked me for Facebook credits to continue playing! You get one free game a night and then you have to pay??

Those bastards.

     I'm not going to let Facebook ruin the social networking thing for me. I just read an article about The Google+ Project and I think it might be the kind of site I'm looking for. What I really like is the "Circles" idea. Basically you take different groups of people in your life and assign them to different groups, like friends, co-workers, family. Just like in our real lives. So you can share certain information with  your family Circle and different things with your co-worker Circle. You have more privacy that way. You can take the Google+ tour here. I signed up already I'm just waiting for them to open it up for everyone. Hopefully I'll like it there, I'll keep you posted....