Fogey

I've been dabbling with Facebook for the past month or so and have found out that, at least in the view of BusinessWeek, I'm a fogey.

Seems that other people my age have discovered the site and its ability to connect people, according to BusinessWeek:

Lately, an influx of older users—professionals their 30s and 40s, many in high-tech is changing the face of Facebook. Among Silicon Valley executives, journalists, and publicists, Facebook has become the place to see and be seen. And it's not just tech. Consulting company Ernst & Young's Facebook network boasts 16,000 members, Citigroup's (C) claims nearly 8,500.

Having also checked out LinkedIn and Plaxo I have say I am starting to understand its appeal. The interface makes updating easy (and addictive.) Right now most of what I do has nothing to do with business but am seeing its potential.

The spike in attention was also prompted by Caroline Giuliani's recent episode with Facebook. Katie Couric also weighs in with a post from one of her interns. (If Katie Couric is on to this then maybe it is old news.) He outlines several of the key rules to Facebooking:

- Never become friends with someone you don’t know. (For example, I really wanted to become friends with Howard Kurtz, but did not. I thought it would be awkward since we have never met.) For the uninitiated: becoming someone’s friend means that there is a little icon on your other friend's profile that shows you two are buds.
- Don't friend someone the second you meet them. Wait a few days, because you don’t want to seem too eager. Chill.
- Never poke anyone. What does “to poke” mean? Don’t worry about it, just don’t do it.
- Don't become friends with your mom or any of her friends. Do I need to explain more?