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Comment by gaius | Hacker News Reader

Or Facebook for friends and LinkedIn for business associates.

the problem is that facebook is so mainstream that people basically expect you to have a facebook account. If you tell them you don't have one, you look weird.

If you tell them your facebook is for friends, they wonder why they don't qualify. + there are "friends" and friends. One you have no problems showing pictures of you getting wasted, for other it will make you lose face.

I didn't have a Facebook account until... um, last week. Never had any trouble as a result.

My policy on friends is, basically, that unless you're someone who gets all the stupid in-jokes from my college days, you don't get to be my friend on Facebook. Haven't had any trouble from that, either, despite getting an avalanche of friend requests almost as soon as I signed up.

>> Well if it matters - not being on facebook is very acceptable. I form the generation that is "expected to be" on facebook but I dont use facebook and most social networks.

Issues of privacy, and the right to be wrong is atmost important and I think with facebook/mysapce/twitter it makes your life totally accountable to atleast 300+ friends, if not more.

On the basic topic - Ok for a ceo to be on facebook ? >> Well if your ok to the scrutiny of your peers, pals and foes alike then what the hell ? Upload and let the world know. But remember you lost your right to be wrong.

Facebook was much better for this in the old days when they had a concept of a "restricted profile". You can still do something like it with groups, but it's much more administrative overhead, I wonder how many people bother.

It's not that bad... keep a "safe list". Every time you add a friend either add them to the safe list or don't - it's right there on the add friend dialog. The "safe list" gets to see everything, the other list gets to see nothing but the basic info on the profile. This way you can friend anyone without offending them a rejection but at the same time keep professional contacts at arms reach.

I just tell them it's for close friends. Not many people can qualify that they're close friends right off the bat. If you want to get close, by all means, let's go out for a ramen. Send me an email. Call me up.

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