online communities, social media

My wife wants me to join Facebook. I suppose there is no harm in joining this online community, but I spend most of my days teaching high school, so why would I want to join an online equivalent of high school? The aptly named Wall reminds me of the scrawl in the stalls of the boys' bathroom. Look, I wrote something clever! For a good time, call Wilhelmina at 911-5555.

She wants me to join this website so we can interact and show our appreciation for one another on our respective walls, leaving cutesy comments to get our butterflies for each other fluttering in our stomachs. I tell her nice things and show her my appreciation IRL (in real life, internet n00b.) I might join, but I don't need another reason to be on the computer for an extended period of time, catching up with people that I probably wouldn't recognize if they showed up at my doorstep wearing a name tag.

The positive to all of this interconnectedness is that I would be able to promote my plethora of nascent websites, gaining exposure and possibly generating revenue. Running contrary to those benefits is that I am somewhat of a public figure in the sense that I work for a community and I am responsible to the taxpayers who provide me a salary and benefits. I could make my profile private, but it would cut down on the whole generating backlinks and promoting my websites and earning money jag.

What's a boy to do? Were Facebook and Myspace around when I was in high school or college, no doubt I'd be a member. As a 31 year old father and professional, I'm not sure I see the point of joining this community other than to reconnect with people from the past. I moved several times in my childhood, and I became adept at making friends and cutting them loose as I switched states and schools. Who would remember me and why should I care? Will I be surprised? Underwhelmed, overwhelmed, or ignored? Maybe I'll give it a try and find out. I can always delete myself.