Beware, Tech Abandoners - People Without Facebook Accounts Are 'Suspicious'

Forbes ^ | 8-6-2012 | Kashmir Hill

[Sir Napsalot]

.... Things have changed. Now we all need to be able to respond to email immediately. And to tweet. And to instantly share our photos on Facebook. We’re all addicted to technology now, ... to our iPhones, and Facebook, and Twitter, and Android, and Pinterest, and iPads, and Word with Friends, and fill-in-the-blank-with-your-digital-dope-of-choice.

(snip) I am writing with some words of caution. I used to say that “if you’re not on Facebook, it’s possible you don’t actually exist.” I think it’s time to update that, courtesy of Slashdot: Facebook abstainers will be labeled suspicious.

Slashdot flagged a German news story in which an expert noted that mass murderers Anders Breivik and James Holmes both lacked much of a social media presence, leading to the conclusion, in Slashdot’s phrasing, that “not having a Facebook account could be the first sign that you are a mass murderer.”

That’s a tad extreme, but I’m seeing the suggestion more and more often that a missing Facebook account raises red flags. .....

It’s not just love seekers who worry about what the lack of a Facebook account means. Anecdotally, I’ve heard both job seekers and employers wonder aloud about what it means if a job candidate doesn’t have a Facebook account. Does it mean they deactivated it because it was full of red flags? Are they hiding something?

.....

“You can’t get away from it. It’s everything. It’s everywhere,” she (Katherine Losse, the ex-Facebook employee) told the Washington Post. “The moment we’re in now is about trying to deal with all this technology rather than rejecting it, because obviously we can’t reject it entirely.”

Well, you can, but it might lead to your being rejected down the line too.

[dalereed]

I'll keep my dumb phone and no way will I ever put myself on facebook or any other social bullshit!!!!

Mark me suspicious and put a brand on my forehead if you must!!!

[dalereed]

I went to school with 2 kids whose actual names were Merry Christmas and a guy named Happy New Year.

[Lancey Howard]

Not only am I not a twit, and don’t have a Farcebook page, I still carry an antique “flip phone” I got about 6 years ago. It needs charging a lot more often these days, but I just keep it plugged in when I drive and it stays charged. When the battery finally dies, I’ll search high and low (if I have to) for a replacement battery.

Watch out - - I am really ‘suspicious’.

[cynwoody]

Facebook sucks.

[Emperor Palpatine]

I went to school with Adam Baum and Harley Davidson..........

[napscoordinator]

And those of us non-Facebook types who don’t twit are downright evil!

I do have a facebook account but to say that those who don’t are evil is ridiculous. I do know that the military is big on Facebook where they have information (administrative only) on different things. I think it is a good tool, but just a tool. You can still get the information from other sources. I don’t know if it will be a requirement to have Facebook someday to do banking or pay bills and other things but until then enjoy life without Facebook.

[lawsone]

I am too old !!!!

[ican'tbelieveit]

HEY! That is a great idea. I have just left all of that info blank, and used a fake email address to register my facebook account.

[N. Theknow]

I have a fake facebook persona. It’s pretty detailed too. He went to a particular high school and graduated in a particular year in a state I’ve never been to, and he graducated from a particular college and works at a particular large company site several states away. He even comments about specifics of his home town and stuff in the town where he now works and lives.

Sayyyyyyyy...Aren't you the guy with the fake Hawaiian birth certificate and Connecticut SS#?

What does your son look like and in which of the 57 states do you reside?

[ican'tbelieveit]

HEY! That is a great idea. I have just left all of that info blank, and used a fake email address to register my facebook account. I was having a ball last week with the chick-fil-a stuff and “you didn’t build” that previously.

[bmwcyle]

The data in Facebook is easy to collect and store is a designed database and then data mine. The same with all your Gooogle searches that are stored in a database. Your card you use at the store is used the same way. The Muslins are no longer the enemy. Now the new enemy is white, military past, gun owner, Conservative. You are now the enemy of America.

[ican'tbelieveit]

HEY! That is a great idea. I have just left all of that info blank, and used a fake email address to register my facebook account. I was having a ball last week with the chick-fil-a stuff and “you didn’t build” that previously.

[cuban leaf]

HEY! That is a great idea. I have just left all of that info blank, and used a fake email address to register my facebook account.

---

I have about five gmail accounts for various purposes. I created a new one for this.

The reason I tried to make my fake address look legit is because I want to get friend requests from complete strangers as I continue to post comments on news stories. I want to see where it goes.

So far, all my friend requests are from people who went to the same high school I chose. I picked a large one so it would be possible that we “never met” yet still went to the same school.

The key is that this account needs to look real, and not “obviously fake” like the first one I tried.

Also, I can use it to look at my “real” facebook account to verify my security settings.

[central_va]

I’m married, so why would I need to do “social media”? For me the only purpose of “social media” would be to make my getting laid easier.

[central_va]

Not only am I not a twit, and don’t have a Farcebook page, I still carry an antique “flip phone” I got about 6 years ago. It needs charging a lot more often these days, but I just keep it plugged in when I drive and it stays charged. When the battery finally dies, I’ll search high and low (if I have to) for a replacement battery.

I could have written that same post, word for word.

[ican'tbelieveit]

Yeah, I have the fake email addresses down pretty good. And the email address I provide for professional purposes is not linked to any social media sites. Almost another fake email address.

[tbw2]

Agreed. I got rid of my Facebook because it was a meaningless set of updates and I received more spam than anything else. Idiots wasting time on pokes and “whatcha doing” updates along with the phishing scams led me to deactivate it shortly after getting it.
The interesting part is the odd assumption that the first one or two people within a first and last name combination in a Facebook search are “you”. (My combo is rare, but there are a few others in the US with it).
I have received correspondence from people dead certain I was this other person and must take care of something. No, I didn’t meet you in that party. No, I am not a health official in Oregon that sent out that notice.
I have a professional website, a blog and I’m on linkedin. That is enough for my work. Facebook wastes my time, and it never generated legitimate business.

[tbw2]

That’s hilarious.

[Liberty Valance]

LOL!

[randog]

I have a professional website, a blog and I’m on linkedin. That is enough for my work. Facebook wastes my time, and it never generated legitimate business.

I finally succumbed and generated a Linkedin profile. What's your assessment of it as far as a business tool?