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.

[Sir Napsalot]

Lots of links at the original article. With more updates, too.

[the invisib1e hand]

....only to people with Facebook accounts.

[Paladin2]

Why help Big Sis keep track?

[JRandomFreeper]

Dr. Carter told my mom I was suspicious a half-second after I was birthed and he slapped my toochas.

I expect to go to my grave under suspicion of being suspicious.

[aMorePerfectUnion]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cqggW08BWO0

Great video!

[FlingWingFlyer]

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

[Rebelbase]

The Man Without a Facebook
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a69RpEBJFAY

[cripplecreek]

I just like my privacy and don’t want every relative I haven’t seen for 30 years knowing what I’m doing.

[G Larry]

Facebook is a HUGE security risk, and I’m not talking about ID theft or tracking whereabouts.

Foreign gov’ts can inject worms and use your system for their purposes, without any trace.

[I see my hands]

To: Facebook users

You're in the minority.

[Sir Napsalot]

I tried to register on FB as “always right” (never mind, long story) years ago, but it wouldn’t let me. It said it was not a real name.

So I tried again as ‘Sir Napsalot’, but no dice. Sir is not a first name.

F FB.

[penelopesire]

I don’t do Facebook but just started twitting....lol. Facebook gives me the creeps.

[Proud2BeRight]

What’s Facebook?

[cuban leaf]

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.

I use it to post in the comments sections of news stories on the internet that let you log in with your facebook account.

Like I’m gonna use my real facebook account for that stuff. ;-)

[Sir Napsalot]

LOL, thanks. I’ve never seen it before.

[AppyPappy]

My daughter’s BF got his roommate assignment and looked up the guy on FB. 16 friends, mostly family.

Uh-oh

[steve86]

I entered F. U. Obama. Got in, but never used it. This was via my neighbor’s I.P. (cracked their wifi). Wouldn’t want to use my own to do that.

[SE Mom]

I had a FB account for about 6 months...never used it and got such a creepy feeling about it that I finally just closed it and felt better right away.

I email..text some, but mostly when I want to communicate with others I do a couple of odd, eccentric and likely suspicious things- I call them up and SPEAK with them or arrange to meet them for coffee, lunch or some other type of actual face-to-face contact.

It’s amazing- real life.

[beef]

I think that in the very near future, anonymity will become a precious commodity, and there will be a lot of people who wish they never had a facebook page.

[Aleya2Fairlie]

People who “don’t exist” in the facebook or twitter realm also have email and mailboxes that actually have room for important correspondence because they are largely devoid of the senseless drivel of ads that “likes” and “dislikes” engender.

These “suspects” also have the peace of mind from knowing that photos of themselves and their loved ones aren’t being slavered over by some pervert or used for some nefarious purpose. They also know that every thief within driving distance of them doesn’t know where they are and what they’re doing.

As an older person, I have become fond of the ease with which I can aquire information and conduct business with the technology available to me. But the social media and the naive faith I see the younger generation place in the truth of what’s on it makes me cringe! The word “friend” means something much different and much less than it used to mean. I feel sorry for the ones who have to face the fact that virtual reality is quite different from the real one.