I resisted joining Facebook and the like for a long time – on the (as it turns out justified!) grounds that it would waste too much time when I should be doing other stuff. I did set up a LinkedIn profile just because I thought I ought, but I can’t say its been much use, partly because now I’m semi-retired I don’t find the time to engage with my connections.
However, on the whole, I think the benefit outweighs the disadvantages – I’m talking personally here, as business use is a whole other ball game. Apart from the obvious one of being able to keep in touch with both real and virtual friends easily, I find the special interest groups that abound to be great fun and sometimes educational. Before the internet, how would I have got in touch with beachcombers from all round the coast, or realised I’m not the only weirdo who loves photographing rusty junk, bricks and weathered concrete?
I use Facebook for all the above and more – and installed a filter add-on to screen all those annoying rants that inevitably mar my news feed, as well as being disciplined about muting or ditching ‘friends’ who are too fond of the sound of their own views! I prefer it to other media sites as it seems more personal somehow – Twitter is a bit faceless, Pinterest is for people who need to get a life instead of a lifestyle, and Instagram is for narcissists. The fact that Instagram is (as of 2022) turning itself into a TikTok wannabe is the most annoying feature after its general vacuosity. As for the rest, pfui! – life is too short. As you can tell, I’m old!