“You’ll be OK, just don’t be friends with crazy people.” That was the advice my colleague gave someone who had just signed up for Facebook. I laughed out loud. I certainly understand why some people don’t participate in social sites. It can seem dangerous to make even more information available to the masses. Isn’t Google frightening enough without adding more personal information to the mix?
My take is to try and feed the web what you want to be there. For years I didn’t make it easy to find out who I really was online. It could still be done but I hesitated to make it obvious. I would use nicknames or handles and seldom posted items with my full name. Now I want people to see that I’m me. Although there are many individuals with the same first and last name who could be confused with me I try to make it easy to see who is behind the short username.
I do understand there can be consequences to being yourself online. As another colleague found out, old girlfriends can find you on Facebook. This might be bad if, as in his case, they are people you would rather not find you. So I think the crazy people advice is right on the money. Be careful about who you associate with online, but be open to meeting new friends. It is easier every day to find like-minded individuals with whom you would enjoy sharing ideas. Search out people you would like to be associated with while being careful to accept as a friend those you know nothing about.