Why I'm Not on Facebook

Tomorrow is Friday, and I am so glad. It's been a very long week.

There were a ton of things I wanted to blog about, but just as quickly as the urge came, it went away. That happens a lot to me. Maybe I should seriously consider getting some sort of Crackberry or iPhone, so I'm ready and armed when inspiration hits.

Nah...I'll hold out a little longer.

This leads me to something I probably need to address: Why am I not on Facebook? I get asked this question a lot, and I really don't have a good answer. A simple, "Because I don't want to be," doesn't seem to be an acceptable answer, but it's the truth. I find that the Facebook question is always followed by a bunch of others, which I will officially address right now:

Don't you want to connect with people from the past?
Not really. I figure if we lost touch, there's probably a good reason. Maybe I didn't like you. In that case, I really don't want to talk to you again. Maybe we drifted apart. Well, chances are we're still pretty different people, so no, I don't want to meet up again to only drift apart again. Besides, if I'm ever curious about someone, chances are I have a friend who's connected to them. I can ask for an update or email address. If someone really wants to find me, they can just Google my name. I'm all over the Internet.

It's a great way to keep in touch with people. Don't you want to know what everyone is doing?
Do I want to know how my friends are and if anything major is going on in their lives? Well, yes, I do, which is why I would hope those closest to me would let me know by phone or email that they are getting married, got a new job, moving, expecting a baby or deathly ill. Do I want to know that my friend's status is "Currently sitting on the toilet?" No, there are some things I just don't need to know.

Don't you want to meet new people and make new friends? Meet guys?
Honestly? Not really. I'm not a recluse or some scary hermit, but I'm not exactly a social butterfly either. I'm open to meeting new people when the opportunity presents itself, but I don't want to actively put myself out there simply because I am just plain lazy. I love the friends I have and I'm perfectly content with my circle. I have kind of dropped off the face of the earth, as some of my friends well know, but they also know it's only a matter of time before I resurface. They understand that sometimes I need to go into hiding, because that's just who I am. Does being closed off limit my chances of finding a husband? Well, yes, but like I said, I'm not a hermit. I could very well meet my future husband at the bus stop, while waiting for my flight or at a friend's party. I know he won't just magically show up on my doorstep, but I also know I don't want to chase after him either. We'll find a way to meet halfway.

Everyone's on it. Do you want to be left out?
Yeah, the peer pressure stuff is not going to work on me. Try something else. BTW...I'm also one of those people who wouldn't jump off the bridge just because everyone else was doing it. Yes, I'm such a rebel.

Now, for the flip side. I do admit to looking at Facebook pages of musicians for news and tour dates. It's a great tool for stuff like that and I don't even need to be on Facebook to see the info. I like that the layout is clean and easy to read. I appreciate Facebook for what it is, and I'm highly interested in it from a marketing standpoint. Part of my job is to stay on top of all this social networking stuff--Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, Digg, Technorati, etc., etc. But I don't really feel the need to have it invade my personal life just yet.

There will be a day when I will eventually need to cave and set one up. If Facebook keeps going the way it is, and if no other social networking site is created that overtakes it, then I know for sure that my name will appear on a Facebook page sooner rather than later. Frankly, I'm surprised everyone who wants me on Facebook has not banded together to start a group dedicated to getting me to join.

For now, I will continue to live in my anonymous bubble and hope that people will still want to be my friend, even if I'm not on Facebook.