am i strange for resisting the pressure to join myspace/facebook etc etc am i the only person on the planet that is not registered on one/both/ every forum going?! friends seem to have stopped emailing me.. only saying get on facebook ... arg!!! am i to lose them all if i dont join!

No. you're not alone. I also have friends contacting me via Facebook, but I can't (won't) reply cos I would have to sign up first, and I don't want to. Can't see the appeal at all.

i just dont see why everyone wants to be listed on every site possible, and add as many 'friends as possible' even though half of them they didnt like when they went to school etc.
what happened to good old fashioned email!!

I feel the same as you guys - I have no interest in contacting/being contacted by people who weren't even that friendly at school! You'd keep in touch with the people you like anyway.

To answer your question, I think some people join social networking sites to reconnect with those they lost touch with. Others join just to show off how many friends they have!!

Just today facebook has been opened to Google etc.

In other words, in a few days you will be able to type a real name into google and you end up at the facebook entry of that person - without having to sign up. This means that every future employer can type in your name into google and end up on your facebook website, where you might not be represented the way you want to be. Therefore I would think twice before signing up.

On the other hand, I just read a study which said that "traditional" emails are dead and the next generation of electronic communication will be exclusively over facebook etc.

Not necessarily O.Stoll, you can set the security on your page so that it doesn't appear on a google search. You have to know that you can do it, and change the settings, which i'll admit isn't clear.

That's one thing that worries me a bit, O. Stoll - I don't want potential employers or co-workers being able to view my personal life on Google. Not that I do anything dodgy; I just like to keep the two things separate.

Just had another Facebook request in my email today: the vaguely annoying thing is I'm not even sure who from - I know several people with this person's name. How are these requests sent? Are they automated or does someone actively want me to join them on Facebook?

i think someone actively wants you to join. but maybe not so specifically you - that person might just want more "friends" and told facebook to send invitations to everyone on his/her outlook contacts list who isn't on facebook already. or something like that.

thanks for the information about facebook opening to google today. i went right on and turned the security setting to "not appearing in google".
i find facebook to be quite nice in a way. it is like everyone were keeping their own blogs or such, and i'm subscribed to them. so without specifically telling specific people, you can inform all your "friends" that you uploaded some pictures or whatever. and when someone else uploads pictures i see it, even if i don't know the person closely enough that he/she would specifically tell me. that keeps me informed of what people are doing who i wouldn't labour to stay in touch with, but who i don't mind keeping in my peripheral vision.

Yes, I'm a Facebook fan too. It's particualrly good for keeping abreast of what your friends are up and often makes for a decent conversation when you bump into them in the street.

This "future employers" Daily Mail-esque scare story is nonsense. If you're really that bothered (and you might well wish to consider whether you'd like to work for an employer that probes your private life - I suspect very few will), you can switch on the security settings so only your friends can see your profile, or temporarily suspend your account.

Well Sylvester, it's not as much nonsense as you think.

"and you might well wish to consider whether you'd like to work for an employer that probes your private life - I suspect very few will),"

I suggest a reality check. EVERY employer these days (except in the chips shops, maybe) will type your name into Google. It's a common procedure.

And most users don't or forget to change the security settings, as an action is required to do so. Plus, it takes up to six months until these changes will be reflected in your Google profile, i.e. if you change it in two weeks time everybody can still see your information in Google for a few months.

...if you're unlucky.

Well with regards to employers searching for me on google... I am glad that my name is not that unique!!

well im still not convinced that its a good thing but considering friends have stopped using email as much what am i to do!

It's really a dilemma. On the one hand I would really like to join (just received another invitation today - "XY invited you as a friend", although I don't like the fact that XY gave my email address to Facebook without asking me first if this is okay). On the other hand I don't like the negative factors as mentioned above. Which makes life really difficult because if it is true what everybody is saying, i.e. that traditional emails are soon out of date and rarely used, then I wonder if I will lack social contacts...