Digital identity

Having a quick think about it, I have presence on:
Facebook
Picasa
Google
Flickr
Yahoo
Twitter
LinkedIn
MSN
Microsoft
Hotmail
Pipex
Virgin
Bulldog
ICQ
AOL

I'm sure there are a few more. Some of them are defunct, you'd be hard pushed to find me on AOL, some of them require effort, and some of them I see as pointless.

I like Twitter. It's easy, it's simple, it's quick. I dislike Facebook. Status updates are fine, but all those daft applications (that I've now deleted, so stop throwing polar bears at me!), walls, super walls, status comments. It's like they've taken the best bits of twitter and IM, removed the near time element, and rehashed the annoying MSN nudge function. As a photo app, picasa or flickr are much better (even for comments). Twitpic let's you share that funny pic right now, and a targeted mail, or public folder on picasa shares the rest of them the next day.

"But what about catching up with all those old friends?" I here you ask. What about it? Usually, if I want to keep in contact with someone I will. If, for whatever reason, that contact slips, I have e-mail, phone numbers, old addresses. I'll find them if it's that important. In the main, everyone I connect with on facebook I speak to in other ways, and for those older friends; the majority have connected and then nothing. Empty silence across a wasteland of status updates and photos of people I don't know.

I've never used myspace. I accept I'm too old. It just looks a mess to me. I tried bebo for less than a week, but didn't "get" that either.

Side note, I keep pressing alt for a comma on this phone, but that gives me a ? it's really annoying.

I'm also on LinkedIn? But I *really* don't get that one. I now have a bunch of people I work / worked with linked to me. So what? No one I've ever worked with is in a position to get me a job. I've never re-worked with anyone? And if I did it would be a coincidence. Other than a couple of agents, everything else on there is just one more voyeristic online snoop.

All this begs the question, "What am I doing on there then?", and the answer has to be snooping. Although, actually, in both cases I have a small amount of people that keep in touch that way, and I don't want to lose contact.

So, from this, I you want to know what I'm doing, check twitter or this blog. Or e-mail me (novel idea, I can't remeber the last time I got a decent personal e-mail). If you want me to know what you're doing, don't rely on online sites to do it.