Comments on: How Your Creepy Ex-Co-Workers Will Kill Facebook by Cory Doctorow

While I found this article interesting, I disagree with a few points. Facebook is a valuable tool that allows friends physically separated to easily communicate. The article characterizes Facebook as "pimping" us, but much evidence is to the contrary. Facebook doesn't force the user to display information, upload pictures, join groups, or be friends with anyone. It doesn't even force you to show your profile to people in your specified network. If Facebook is a 'pimp,' its the most lienient pimp I've ever seen. The only policing Facebook does is limit the uploading of copyright information and making users remove inappropriate pictures.

The articles information isn't even accurate. Doctorow states, "The clue is in the steady stream of e-mails you get from Facebook: “So-and-so has sent you a message.” Yeah, what is it? Facebook isn’t telling—you have to visit Facebook to find out, generat[ing] a banner impression." This is not the case. Facebook's emails not only tell you a friend has written to you, but also display the actual message in the email. There no need to visit the site.

The author goes on to complain about his friend requests from "a guy who beat me up on a weekly basis through the whole seventh grade" and "the crazy person who was fun in college but is now kind of sad." The solution is simple. If you don't want them to be able to interact with you, don't friend them. This equates to blaming a high school reunion for allowing a past schoolmate to say hi to you. Facebook doesn't create akward situations, they occur in real life and so will exist on Facebook too. "It’s socially awkward to refuse to add someone to your friends list—but removing someone from your friends list is practically a declaration of war." If you don't want them as a friend, why do you care what they think anyway?

To conclude, the author says, "As more users flock to it, the chances that the person who precipitates your exodus will find you increase. Once that happens, poof, away you go—and Facebook joins SixDegrees, Friendster, and their pals on the scrapheap of Net.history." Or, you could just not friend them. It's ridiculous to blame a social network for allowing a social contact to find you. That's its purpose.