i love facebook.
as for my personal profile, i am not visible in searches. i connect with those i choose to connect with. i agree with copperhead. i change my privacy settings as needed. i have an email address i connect with on facebook that is not related to any bank accounts etc ... it's just for facebook. i don't spout off about things, or post ridiculous pictures of myself that i would be embarrassed to have people find out about. i see my family on facebook ... friends who live far away. it's fun.
i help operate two business pages on facebook ... one where i work, one is a friend's who has just opened a restaurant. for over a year, they created a buzz about the coming restaurant. more and more folks 'liked' the page and asked to be added to the mailing list. they ... we ... get paying customers and visits from those who find us on facebook. we get reservations right through the links on facebook. that go to a secure site for the actual reservation. those who make reservations come to the restaurant and eat ... and pay. they tell their friends on facebook.
they are young. this is their way.
my kids are on facebook. all their friends are too. this is how they share where they like to go, where they eat, where they stay. a big group of them (they are in their late 20's and their 30's) all just booked rooms at an inn they saw on facebook. a friend of theirs stayed there, recommended it, posted pictures, and they are going. they have all paid their deposit. looking forward to a good time. they've all made reservations to go to some jazz concert that is playing in the area. they saw the link to it on the inn's facebook page.
there used to be a commercial for shampoo. you tell two friends, and they'll tell two friends, and so on and so on and so on.
why should i close these money making accounts? because the guy who founded facebook is laughing at me? i've heard lots of bankers and business owners laugh at their customers, too. because someone could get my personal information? online stores can get my personal information, too. hackers might get into my email, into my computer, into my bank account. it happens. i do what i can to guard against this and i continue to pay bills online, buy things online and email all over the place. one dear friend and business owner up in maine refuses to take credit cards because of the risks. refuses to use email, too. his choice.
facebook is useful. it is making my employer and my friend money. if this stops working, i will stop using it.
for now it's free. i love it.