Taking the Hijab Off Facebook

History
I am not new to the internet. Not even close. I even created a social networking site back in internet 1.0 days when Friendster was king of the hill and there were rumblings of another one called MySpace that was gaining ground. I've had a LinkedIn account for a number of years, but haven't really done anything with it.

When I first heard about Facebook, it was essentially an electronic yearbook for Harvard created by a student named Mark Zuckerberg. Well, a few years went by and then the buzz starts. A few people I know mention they have Facebook accounts. Then I hear the unthinkable; Facebook is pulling executive level talent away from the internet's golden child, GOOGLE! Young Mr. Zuckerberg has an estimated worth over $1 Billion, and developers have flocked to create widgets for this open community social networking site.

So what's the point? I'm 31 years old, busy with my work at NPS, Webcast Tools, and my involvement with a handful of other web-based businesses. Why in the world should a guy like me join the 66 million other on Facebook? I decided the best way to find out is to join.

Let the Disrobing Begin
After completing the typical sign-up process and clicking on the confirmation link sent to my email, I was directed to a welcome page. Unusual to this welcome page is that I had people waiting for me. Not the MySpace "Tom" that everyone has, but people I actually knew! I have no idea how that works, but I confirmed my friendship with them and moved on. The next step is the gold. I put in my high school and graduation year and University (even though I taste tested 6 in my collegiate career), and it gave me a large list of potential friends already on Facebook. Many I have not talked to in 15 to 20 years. After that, you put in the city you want to network from.

After that, you're in. That was an effective launch. I've been on a total of 5 minutes and already have a few friends and family networked through the site.

Now I'm an official Facebookie. I'll have to get down and dirty with all the widgets and assess those as well.