Mention Facebook at parties and there are two typical responses 1) "I'm on it , It's part of the social fabric about what I do now (even if I don't always like it or think it's cool enough anymore)" or
2) "I've decided not to join it because it's an invasion of my privacy, I'm morally aghast ..and a waste of my free time."
For thirty-somethings, it's a pretty even split on this question of social network participation, at least amongst the Friday night wine and cheese crowd.
For the 2nd audience described above , I guess my only advice would be - get used to your loss of privacy, it's held at a premium within online and now frequently societal interactions and the trend is growing to a more open world.
By not opening up, here's what you're susceptible too:
- being considered old and a tech luddite by any early adopting web inhabitant and anybody under 25 years old, most notably your employees
- being irrelevant to headhunters and job kingpins, who find your Google and network value lacking
- being considered by your work colleagues, too uptight, perhaps not a team player or collaborative teammate (unfair?! I know, but true)
- being considered by your friends and prospective friends as being on the outer perimeter, perhaps inadvertently not worth the effort to invite out to meetings or social functions you might find interesting
- in a future world, being viewed by a number of essential institutions (i.e. chamber of commerce, government/NGO work groups/new money VCs and enterprises) as lacking the social net for competitiveness in the job economy
It may suck and it may not be right, but your social network and Facebook value and disclosure will be a shorthand for your abilities. The adage "it's not what you know, it's who you know" has taken on a much more integral and public meaning. I know personally when I'm considering candidates for entry level or managerial roles, I have a tough time reconciling a lack of social network presence (no profile, no blog, no citations, no Threadless T-shirt, no Nike ID shoes, no job) with a lack of ability to quickly learn the ropes of the new marketplace.
Eric Karjaluoto from smashLAB sent me a well-written post entitled "Is privacy dead? Does it really matter?" on the same subject. He made a marvellous quote...I won't paraphrase, because I thought it was so resonating:
"As a child I remember older generations speaking of current music as
having gone to sod. With age, I’ve seen this happen time and again.
Although I couldn’t quite reconcile it at the time, I’m now convinced
that it’s a protective measure that allows us to turn off learning that
which is new. By “othering” these younger generations, we allow
ourselves permission to disengage from new stimuli.
I see this as an unnecessary limitation that some impose upon
themselves. The web doesn’t care if you’re young or old, hip or
conservative, in or out; it’s simply a set of tools. You may choose to
not utilize these tools, but they’re there for you regardless. Turn
them on, employ them in your life, and see what clicks. There’s no age
requirement, just an “open-mind” requirement."
Essentially (and I put it more starkly than Eric, because he seems like a nice guy), if you're not on a social network participating and your business, life or societal connections depend on it (with extreme exceptions - perhaps you're a CEO under the microscope or in an FBI relocation program), you are much like your establishment reactionaries from decades gone by who alternatively dismissed "rock' n roll, punk, new wave, disco, new country, hip hop and Idol music" as the end of civilization and the devil's music. The Jerry Falwells of Facebook, shall we say.
In a future world, I see somebody developing the eBay of social life - with trust ratings, VIP tiering and a backtrack of all your moves that will make your life, no, force your life to be an open book. This will be your life's resume for all to see. It may suck, it might not even be ethically right or something to be looked forward too (although the transparency aspect will open up institauions that are now moribund from tenured boards and hidden decisions) but unless you plan on living in a commune in Arizona, be forewarned - I don't want you coming back to me a decade from now, wishing you had blogged more before mid-life - because PRIVACY IS DEAD, get used to it and make your personal brand the public brand you want people to see.
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