faboo mama

Last week, Microsoft opened up Windows Live, their answer to “social media”.  Right off the bat, you can see why it’s a massive fail. Once you remember your Hotmail account from the mid-90s, use your Xbox or Zune login, you can see how the UI is very user-unfriendly.  Importing feeds from other services is the only thing that’s quick and easy.  However, if you want to add friends, you’re stuck with contacting them via Hotmail accounts that have long been deactivated or given over to spam.  You can also add people via LinkedIn or Facebook, but that’s only provided those resources work.  When I tested them last week, neither of them would invite contacts.  This is fine with me as I don’t want my contacts from either site on this one.

Windows Live Home

This is your Home page.  From here you can see what your friends are doing.  What you can not do is actually interact with your friends on this page. So say I wanted to comment on Thomas’ photo, I can either click the Flickr link, hunt for the photo and make a comment or I can go to Thomas’s page, make a comment there and hopes he sees it.

(more…)

I hear you. I’ve heard you. Today, was probably the 101st time in the last 3 weeks someone suggested I get on Facebook. Let me explain why I don’t.

I resisted Friendster. Okay, I just double-checked and don’t have a profile on there. Anyway, I resisted it after seeing all the info they wanted for your profile. Keep in mind that I was already a member of BlackPlanet and still hadn’t updated my ‘fabooj’ profile in the 3 years (at that time) I had been on there. It’s been 7 years since I got a BP id and I still haven’t updated that particular profile, though my other one–now deleted–was updated and used for almost one whole year.

I have a profile on LinkedIn. That was a hassle really, mainly because I did a profile for both me and my husband. The upside is that we’ve managed to stay in contact with old clients and business associates. Very helpful.

Which brings me back to Facebook. I looked at it and I just felt dejected at the idea of filling out out all that info. Right now, I have people who want me to give them access to my Yahoo! messenger so that they know when I’m on, regardless of what my screen says. That’s a big much for me. I’m currently ignoring the yellow tabs across my screen. Why? Because I don’t want to give them access, yet I don’t want them to get pissy over something so stupid that they’ll stop talking to me. I know that if I started to Facebook, that some people will want be to friend them (or whatever the jargon is) and I know that I’ll be picky and not do it. I know this.

It’s like this blogroll thing. I’m blogrolled a lot of places and sometimes, I feel like I have to reciprocate. So, for awhile there were blogs listed that I don’t visit or thought were just crappy (like mine). Today, I deleted a ton of blogs and added a ton of blogs. I’m happy with my blogroll now, as I don’t feel forced to have blogrolled any of them. Just because I’ve blogrolled you, please do not feel the need to reciprocate. My blog sucks, I bounce from topic to topic, I can go two months without posting, then, like today, post 10 different times. I know this and I’m okay with it.

Same with flickr. I like seeing new pics, so I add people to my contacts. I do not expect those people to add me to their contacts. In fact, I’d prefer it if they didn’t since I take so many pictures all the time. There’ll be days that I don’t post, then go through 4 days where I upload close to 300 photos. Who wants to deal with that? Not me, that’s for sure. But there are people who hound me via email, “I added you to my contacts and you didn’t add me.” That’s right, but what do I say? “Oh, it’s because your pictures of your desk in your bedroom aren’t my cup of tea.” or “I don’t know why I should have to look at 50 blurry cellphone pics of your grandkid.” Get my drift?

So all this is a way to explain why I don’t Facebook. I don’t want feel forced to reciprocate “friend” you. I don’t want to do, yet another, profile page. And I don’t want to have to deal with spam.