It will seem a bit silly for a blogger to complain about a social networking site (a blog being in some ways merely a more verbose and self-important form of a social networking page), especially when I have been told that there is a Facebook group that is actually inspired by my blogging, but Alan Jacobs and Rod Dreher speak for many of us when they refuse to succumb (or succumb again) to the fashion. Like Rod, I already spend more time online than I probably should, and like Alan I find absolutely nothing appealing about Facebook (or any of the other social networking sites, for that matter). Of course, I once railed against the release of the iPhone, so you will conclude that I am simply uninterested in the latest uses of technology, but that’s just the point. For many people, the iPhone is very useful, but I don’t see any reason why I should have one. For goodness’ sakes, I resisted getting a cell phone until 2003, and only accepted using one of those because I make a few long, cross-country driving trips a year and I have fairly long commutes to and from my church. So when Farhad Manjoo tells me that Facebook is becoming just as common as cell phones, I am not impressed. We could all probably do with fewer cell phones, and I bet we could stand to do without these networking sites, too.

Facebook may be an excellent means of networking online, or maybe it’s just so-so, but it doesn’t matter. I don’t even like networking with people offline, so why would I want to sign up to do something I don’t enjoy? There’s only so much time in the day. This isn’t to make a statement against modernity or take a stand against ridiculous fads for its own sake (despite the title of the post, I don’t think Facebook is a menace–at least menaces are worth taking seriously), but simply to say that I see no value in the thing, which is why I persist in not joining despite the many entreaties of several of my long-time friends.