Actually I just tried it - but I didn't like the look of it. I think it could be a killer timewaster if you are not disciplined.

Had a nosey at the people who had invited me, but decided against joining and deactivated my account. All in 10 minutes!

I think Facebook is generally a good thing. Its connected me with people I thought I would never have contact with again. The privacy settings are pretty good if your not interested in people seeing particular things about you. Plus people cant view your profile if you havent accepted them as a friend (i think). You can also stop it being 'Google searchable'.

Yep, here here. You are in full control of what is on there, besides which I make sure that I'm not compromised in any photos.

Also, I do not appear under my full name on Fbook anyway, so searching me out (especially if I have full priovacy and remove my picture) would be nigh on impossible. You worry too much. Big brother isn't here just yet!

stupid question but do people invite you and thus your name appears in facebook search then when you sign up it is activated?

When you sign up it asks you if you want to invite your friends (from your email contacts list i.e. hotmail, gmail) If you say yes, it will send an invitation to all you email contacts. It will also tell you who from your email contacts is already a member