I went to grad school a few years ago when Facebook was still primarily the domain of students, and was surprised that classmates a fraction of my age were willing to ‘friend’ me. As time has passed I’ve found and rediscovered friends from many stages of my life on Facebook, as well as colleagues and friends I’ve met more recently. Over time I’ve pared away the ‘friends’ I’ve never met or interacted with in the real world, and have learned how to shut out some of the less riveting chatter. Facebook now seems to me to be the current equivalent of chatting over the back fence with family, friends and acquaintances.

About eighteen months ago I was told I should look into Twitter as well, to connect with other people with similar interests. I did so, and was surprised by how many people began to follow me. (My “Twitter-stalkers” according to a non-Twittering friend!) I post links to stories I think may be of interest, give information to people who ask for help, and let people know when I post something new on my blog. This seems to be fairly standard behavior!

While I’ve got my Facebook chatter down to a friendly and acceptable level, the vast number of followers on Twitter mean that it can be hard to find the voices of those I originally followed. The news of imminent appearances on TV from an NBC cameraman and Steven Fry’s witty and pithy remarks, have vanished into the vast sea of chatter that has become overwhelming to follow.

While I was trying to work out whether to drop lots of those people I follow ‘just because’ , or maybe spend less time on Twitter, I was on Facebook and noticed a link to this blog post by Steve Coxsey. Some of his concerns are different from mine, but his complaints about the cacophony and general messiness are ones I can definitely identify with.

I also read this string on the Vibrant Nation site – which you should visit even if you don’t want to read more about Twitter – where the consensus seems to be to use Twitter to make and sustain connections, and not to just get thousands of followers!

How about you, do you spend time on Facebook or Twitter – too much time maybe? Do you feel either site provides information you couldn’t get anywhere else? Do you think microblogging the way forwards, or do you think is it yet another piece of technology that needs to be reined in before it runs amok?

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