# What is Facebook used for?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-facebook-used-for/507273
**Category:** In My Humble Opinion
**Created:** [August 22, 2009, 2:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-facebook-used-for/507273 "2009-08-22T02:39:45Z")
**Posts on this page:** 19
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@supergoose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/supergoose)
#### Post date: [August 22, 2009, 2:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-facebook-used-for/507273/1 "2009-08-22T02:39:45Z")
I’ve passed on most Internet socialization sites but recently joined Facebook. I can’t quite figure out exactly what it’s generally used for. Kind of like blogging? What do you use it for?
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### Author:  [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)
#### Post date: [August 22, 2009, 3:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-facebook-used-for/507273/2 "2009-08-22T03:02:43Z")
> **[I Joined FaceBook. What am I Supposed to Do With It?](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=523259)**
>
> I recently joined Facebook and I am amazed about how much activity I am getting. I live 2,000 miles from where I grew up and I am getting requests daily from people wanting to be “Friends”. I haven’t seem most of them in over 20 years and I never...
> **[Should I join Facebook?](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=521098)**
>
> I’m not really into these social networking sites, but I got an auto e-mail from Facebook recently reminding me that three people I know (two old coworkers and my sister/mother of my nephew) have invited me to join. Is it worth doing? How should I...
> **[Should I facebook?](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=505724)**
>
> Even my mom is now getting on my case for not being on facebook.com. Am I really missing something? My wife got in not long ago, and what I can see from looking over her shoulder, it is nothing but an endless attack of cutespam from “friends” that...
> **[Facebook, MySpace, or What?](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=503367)**
>
> I know next to nothing about sites of this sort and would like to start an open-ended discussion of which you guys prefer, and why. What are the advantages/disadvantages of each? Or, suggest another site that you like and tell us why. The first thing...
We’ve done this a few times.
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### Author:  [@supergoose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/supergoose)
#### Post date: [August 22, 2009, 3:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-facebook-used-for/507273/3 "2009-08-22T03:13:53Z")
Thanks.
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### Author:  [@SCSimmons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SCSimmons)
#### Post date: [August 22, 2009, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-facebook-used-for/507273/4 "2009-08-22T21:59:58Z")
Since it’s been asked and answered (if not in this thread), I feel compelled to copy some of the first message thread from the FB page of one of my friends, who joined a few weeks ago, which alleges to answer this question …
> [@friend](#):
>
> So this is Facebook… I found some friends. What else does it do?
> [@another friend](#):
>
> sux ur dick and cleans ur house
> [@friend](#):
>
> Like girlfriend without the whining and that annoying monthly thing? Rock on!
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### Author:  [@ivylass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivylass)
#### Post date: [August 23, 2009, 12:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-facebook-used-for/507273/5 "2009-08-23T00:30:27Z")
I have found old high school friends, old work friends, and had some inside jokes with co-workers. It adds another layer of the relationship when you can chat with someone about what they posted on Facebook. As a matter of fact, I found an old friend I haven’t seen since I was in elementary school and we’re meeting up next Saturday.
Damn Mafia Wars, Pet Society, and Restaurant City, though.
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### Author:  [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)
#### Post date: [August 23, 2009, 12:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-facebook-used-for/507273/6 "2009-08-23T00:32:43Z")
Lidda bidda dis, lidda bidda dat. My favorite use is to keep tabs with geographically distant friends who I don’t really know well enough or feel the need to call or email frequently but like to know what they’re up to and that they’re okay.
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### Author:  [@Lamia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamia)
#### Post date: [August 23, 2009, 12:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-facebook-used-for/507273/7 "2009-08-23T00:52:46Z")
> [@Sampiro](#):
>
> Lidda bidda dis, lidda bidda dat. My favorite use is to keep tabs with geographically distant friends who I don’t really know well enough or feel the need to call or email frequently but like to know what they’re up to and that they’re okay.
Facebook is really nice for this kind of thing. There are plenty of people I knew in college or even when I was a kid who I wasn’t close enough to that we stayed in touch over the years, but who I still cared enough about to be interested in basic info about their lives now. If we all lived in the same small town I’d have heard that Kathy is a real estate agent now and that she got married and had a baby, but since we’ve been living in different parts of the country since we last saw each other on graduation day then I’m glad I can find this kind of thing out through her Facebook profile.
When it comes to people I’m close friends with in real life, Facebook is a nice way to share photos or leave a quick note for someone.
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### Author:  [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)
#### Post date: [August 23, 2009, 2:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-facebook-used-for/507273/8 "2009-08-23T02:39:53Z")
It’s a new way for me to ignore people I haven’t talked to in 20 years.
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### Author:  [@Lobsang](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobsang)
#### Post date: [August 27, 2009, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-facebook-used-for/507273/9 "2009-08-27T16:18:46Z")
It’s for me to tell people I have a new website. And I bought an ipod. And I have a quirky sense of humour. And I like to save money on SMS messges.
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### Author:  [@Algher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Algher)
#### Post date: [August 27, 2009, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-facebook-used-for/507273/10 "2009-08-27T16:29:54Z")
I use it for sharing photos without emailing out links. If people want to see my pics, they are probably already a “friend,” so I don’t have to email out links to my picasa or other photo sharing site.
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### Author:  [@DZedNConfused](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DZedNConfused)
#### Post date: [August 28, 2009, 2:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-facebook-used-for/507273/11 "2009-08-28T02:43:37Z")
Killing time when I’m too tired to want to really think about what’s on my screen 😃
Other than that it is kind of nice to chat with my far flung family members on there.
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### Author:  [@DZedNConfused](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DZedNConfused)
#### Post date: [August 28, 2009, 2:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-facebook-used-for/507273/12 "2009-08-28T02:45:30Z")
> [@msmith537](#):
>
> It’s a new way for me to ignore people I haven’t talked to in 20 years.
And be nagged to add some person who attended my college the same time I did… yeah I KNEW the whole student body there personally!:rolleyes:
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### Author:  [@maladroit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/maladroit)
#### Post date: [August 28, 2009, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-facebook-used-for/507273/13 "2009-08-28T19:53:37Z")
Photo sharing with family members, that’s pretty much it.
eta I’m in my 50’s, married, working, not looking to ‘hook up’ or find a job or anything
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### Author:  [@PatriotGrrrl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatriotGrrrl)
#### Post date: [August 28, 2009, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-facebook-used-for/507273/14 "2009-08-28T22:53:04Z")
For me, It acts as a sort of cover letter or reference for future job hunts.
That’s what they keep warning us about, anyway, so I try to make the most of it.
Of course, it would be wrong to lie on an actual resume or cover letter, but…
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### Author:  [@madmonk28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madmonk28)
#### Post date: [August 28, 2009, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-facebook-used-for/507273/15 "2009-08-28T23:07:52Z")
It’s a chance for people that you intentionally dropped 20 years ago to tell you what their cats have been up to. It’s also a chance for them to share conspiracy theories and the lates Glenn Beck videos.
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### Author:  [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)
#### Post date: [August 29, 2009, 1:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-facebook-used-for/507273/16 "2009-08-29T13:40:00Z")
It’s also a great way to not keep in touch with people you would normally have met once and never seen ever again.
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### Author:  [@Rubystreak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rubystreak)
#### Post date: [August 29, 2009, 2:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-facebook-used-for/507273/17 "2009-08-29T14:09:11Z")
To combat the cynicism, I will say that Facebook helped me get back in touch with people who I really liked before e-mail existed, so we failed to keep in touch. This month alone, I have met up with 3 friends (one from elementary school, one from high school, and one from college) who I haven’t seen in years, if not decades. It was truly wonderful to see them again, and it only happened because Facebook made is so easy for us to track each other down. Sure, there are many annoying aspects to Facebook, but for me, the positives far outweigh the negatives.
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### Author:  [@Liberal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liberal)
#### Post date: [August 29, 2009, 2:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-facebook-used-for/507273/18 "2009-08-29T14:12:32Z")
My wife uses it to play some kind of game, in which she raises crops. There’s something about going into the market-place to find people to help her with her gardening, and she helps others. I suppose it’s part of the whole networking thing. She also uses it to communicate with our daughters.
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### Author:  [@Kyla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kyla)
#### Post date: [August 29, 2009, 2:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-facebook-used-for/507273/19 "2009-08-29T14:14:30Z")
One thing I like about Facebook is that it’s a good medium for keeping track of people you like, but aren’t necessarily SUPER DUPER CLOSE with. I went to a training seminar thing this week and I hit it off with a girl there. We didn’t become BFF, but I liked her and if I’m ever in Mumbai again, I’d like to meet up with her for lunch or something. Without Facebook, we could exchange email addresses and we’d never get in contact again. But with it, we can still see what the other is up. It might sound kind of jerkish, but that level of casual contact is something I can appreciate.