I've been living across an ocean from my family for over 10 years, deactivated my FB account 2 years ago and never turned back. So I really don't understand your "ridiculous to even consider" -- there are many other ways to keep in touch, and doing without the firehose of low-quality information (wall posts, movie recommendations, etc.) pouring through FB gives you more time to focus on the high-quality information that can be better communicated through other media (phone, email, etc.)

I understand that leaving FB (or never using it) is not for everybody, but "ridiculous to even consider" goes way too far. I think actually it would be great for a lot more people to consider it, even if they end up deciding not to actually do it.

I meant it would be ridiculous to even consider in my circle of friends.

Facebook is used by everyone I know because it is convenient. It is easier to chat with people, message them, and post photos to them, on Facebook that it is to email individual people. e.g. if someone posts a photo we can all comment on it and discuss it together. With email this is not really possible.

The only reason a lot of my friends have email accounts is because they need one to sign up to online services like Facebook. They do not even check email. It is just a box with thousands of unread friend requests and spam messages. That is why it would be ridiculous to consider quitting Facebook for me. I would be cutting myself off. Obviously I would still keep in touch with friends via phone but we would engage a lot less.

It's not my case, but I've heard from some people that they got on Facebook because friends where organizing events there and not having an account meant not being included in these events. This might be a case where it's "ridiculous to even consider".

In the end it depends on the ways people use it. If it's the only channel for communication, then you have to be in it.

You just have to be cool enough so that people start thinking "how can we organize the event so that X will also show up". Problem solved :-)

Another question: do you really want to meet people who would exclude you from an event just because you don't have a Facebook account? Friends don't exclude friends...

You seem to assume it's on purpose. When almost everyone in your circle has a Facebook account, it's easy to forget that person X or Y doesn't (usually depending on how close a friend they are with them).

Personally, I don't miss my account, but I can understand why others can.

Snail mail, telephone, IM, e-mail, travel. Yes, there are many ways to keep in touch with your friends and family.

I don't know, it's possibly a generation thing but I remember spending most of the nineties InterRailing around Europe and making lots of friends without even using the Internet at all. Snail mail and actually meeting real people are slow processes but they are so much more meaningful than Facebook.

I have a Facebook account that I use only for testing apps I'm working on. I stay in touch with my friends with all of the above means. Needless to say, our conversations when we actually meet in real life are a hell of lot more interesting than if we followed each other's life in real time.

> For example, myself and several of my friends are spending time working and studying abroad. Facebook is the best way to keep in touch.

in your example, can you explain how FB is better than AIM/ICQ or any other instant messanger in what you trying to do?:

FB and any other IM:

- accept people you want on your list, delete etc - see whos up right now - text to one or multiple users the same time (can FB do that), send photos, music, any files - more?

I heard it so many times users saying they need facebook for this or that but in reality, they dont. Its like my sister says she needs to go to google to search for facebook to click on facebook link to go to FB.

I have "normal" FaceBook friends (ala non-tech, don't care about data and privacy, add every survey application, etc.) Removed myself from FB recently. They call me by phone. Business contacts are on LN (a different discussion) and I throw what I feel are interesting posts I find to G+ (another discussion). Though, perhaps in the (large) demo of the populace utilizing FB, you might be thought of as Dead (where is _?), but hardly ridiculous. Some of those same "FB normals" did consider my leaving an effective declaration of real-life unfriending. Is that a big deal? Not to me :D

If you're young enough, delete your account because otherwise you're stuck with lots of lame old people that were born in the last century ;-)

Seriously, what makes Facebook more suitable than email to keep in touch?

Young people use it. They don't use email. I'm 21 and my friends are all roughly the same age. They have a university email account they use for school. They have a personal email account, which they set up almost 10 years ago, and only use to sign up to sites. It is filled with thousands of unread notifications, friend requests, and spam messages. They never check it.

The last time these people gave out their email address was in the early 2000's so I could add them on MSN. In the last 2 years anytime I meet someone new we don't exchange phone numbers or email addresses. They ask "Are you on Facebook?" and we connect there. This is becoming more and more common. I'm not saying that it is impossible to get by without Facebook just that it is more inconvenient. For me, giving up Facebook would have almost the same effect as giving up the telephone (for personal use).

Yes, that's the network effect. It's useful because it's used. It's a fact becuase it's a fact because it's a fact, etc. And it's not just young people either. Most of the people who force me to reluctantly use Facebook sometimes are actually older than me.

But I want to know if there is anything genuinely useful about the form of communication that is Facebook. I think there has to be something, or it wouldn't have become what it is.

Maybe it's that the default mode of communication is spam. Maybe it's that what is said on Facebook carries less weight and hence requires less effort to say. Maybe it's that statements need no reply there. Maybe it's like the village square where people hang out so they don't feel lonely even if they don't have anything to say.

I don't know what it really is. But us hackers should ask the question because it might tell us what to create in the future.

Stays up to date and you can't lose it.

That's true for email as well.

Everyone you know notifies you when they change their email address?

Yes they usually do, but most of the time that's not even necessary, because they simply start sending from a different email address and the first time I reply they are automatically entered into my address book.

If someone creates a new Facebook account or switches to G+, I'm not notified automatically either.

Ridiculous to even consider? What a ridiculous thing to say. There's plenty of other ways to stay in touch. You're using facebook, as is your friend. Don't pretend that without it you're out of the loop. It may take a little effort at first, but you could do it. Hyperbole doesn't help anyone.