We have relaunched: What's new at ZDNet Asia?

ZDNet / Insight / Internet / Story

My Facebook fetish

By Charles Cooper, CNET News.com on October 16, 2007

Summary

CNET News.com's Charles Cooper wants his boss to know there's a reason why he wastes all that time prowling around Facebook each day.

Events

Microsoft MSDN/Developer Event
25 Mar 2010

One Marina Boulevard, Microsoft Singapore

IT Architect Regional Conference Singapore 2010
20 - 21 Apr 2010

Singapore Management University, Singapore

The Internet Show 2010
21-22 Apr 2010

Suntec Singapore

commentary Marissa Mayer still won't give me the time of day.

I've tried several times to become her Facebook pal. But Google's oh-so-precious vice president of "Search Product and User Experience" (now there's a hefty title) wants nothing to do with me. Maybe I should take a hint and get lost. But rejection--especially of the cyber sort--is awfully tough to take.

Before you conclude that I'm some kind of pervert, the truth is that I'm not the only Facebook stalker out there.

Hardly a day goes by without a total stranger asking to become my Facebook friend. Sometimes, the invitation arrives out of the blue. More usually, my wannabe buddy finds me through a common acquaintance--the logic being that a friend of a Facebook friend naturally means we have something in common and so, voila--cyber menage a trois.

I've since returned the favor--many times over. Whenever my boss strolls by, I can cover my tracks by telling him I'm doing research into social networks. That's not entirely a fib. A lot of other people I know confess to the same guilty pleasure. Trolling through their friends' buddy lists has become something of a way to pass the a.m. downtime as you sit down with the day's first coffee.

I suppose this may sound like a pretty goofy way to spend time. More than anything else, though, I'm curious about who my friends allow into their private cyber domains. Call it a Facebook fetish, but maybe somebody I know managed to land a big fish like Bill Clinton or Sting or even Joe Pepitone.

Like they say in the Lotto commercials, you never know. And because Facebook is a "social" network, I can then ask to become their "friend."

In theory, at least.

Even though I've got a few big names on my list of "friends," it's not as if Jim Cramer or Steve Case is planning to invite me over to Thanksgiving dinner (or vice-versa). It's more akin to collecting baseball cards as a kid. Everybody on the block wanted the A-listers because they were the ones who inspired the oohs and ahhs. After all, bragging rights are bragging rights.

How easy was it to get these guys? Piece of cake. All I had to do was ask.

Of course, this can quickly get out of hand. Maybe that's why Marissa keeps giving me the cold shoulder. I don't take it personally. In fact, I've hit the "ignore" button on many a request since joining the service earlier in the year.

There's obvious risk in being too loosey-goosey on a social network. When it comes to accepting or dismissing people as "friends," I want to know a lot more about them before opening the veil on a big part of my life.

You don't want to let just anybody into the club. And so the system lets you act like a snob without ever giving it a second thought.

If this sounds like a major time suck, it is. That's one reason behind the recurring rumors about possible multibillion dollar bids for Facebook. My hunch is the reports are founded on solid ground. I don't pretend to know the ultimate price tag, but Facebook's enviable "stickiness" will be a potent bargaining chip when management tells any would-be buyer how much it's going to cost.

In the meantime, Marissa, I'm still available.

Related stories

Facebook's legal issues escalate

Facebook, MySpace threaten your job, savings

Way too good for Facebook or MySpace?

Talkback

Add your opinion

In order to post a comment, you need to be registered. (Sign In or register below)

Post your comment
Transform your business interactions with real-time voice, video and telepresence solutions.
Tech Vendor: Cisco

ZDNet Asia Live

Found this great little deal calculator http://www.zdnetasia.com/downloa...

5 hours 41 minutes ago by winstoncranford on topsy

RT @mistertechblog: I wrote about Nexus One and Touchdown, desktop dock, Bluetooth/USB tethering, ebooks here: http://bit.ly/bRdzx0

11 hours 52 minutes ago by yklee13 on topsy

Read my blog post on getting the most from your Nexus One: http://www.zdnetasia.com/blogs/m...

Data Centre Operator (Fresh Graduates Welcome to Apply) in ... http://bit.ly/bagYuu

12 hours 22 minutes ago by intmasterfeed on topsy

#Cisco #Cloud Cloud on ZDNet Asia: Aussie university joins Cisco cloud ยท Early-adopter criminals embrace cloud... http://bit.ly/d93C8S #TCN

13 hours 25 minutes ago by thetechgang on topsy

RT @3wconsulting: Whitepaper from http://3W.com.au "Outsourcing Your IT Requirements to Philippines" now on @zdnetaustralia & @zdnetasia http://ow.ly/1oY9f

Whitepaper from http://3W.com.au "Outsourcing Your IT Requirements to Philippines" now on @zdnetaustralia & @zdnetasia http://ow.ly/1oYbA

Whitepaper from http://3W.com.au "Outsourcing Your IT Requirements to Philippines" now on @zdnetaustralia & @zdnetasia http://ow.ly/1oYbz

Zdnetasia.com Estimated Worth $178,365 USD. Daily Ad Revenue:$244 USD, Daily Views:81,445 Pages... - http://www.haplog.com/www.zdneta...

The receivers don't transmit back to the satellite. Unless there is a phone line attached to the receiver, they don't have any wa...

1 day 38 minutes ago by bessellbrowne on Apple to join the geolocation craze?

"Lead Cognos BI Developer Insurance - Jobs - ZDNet Asia" http://bit.ly/bRcxOG

1 day 33 minutes ago by rhrcognos on topsy

whatever little understanding I have we 'll only progress toward end of the world if we use HPCs to lenthen life of human being. Huma...

2 days 45 minutes ago by abhi32002@gmail.com on High computing promises elixir of life

Thanks for the knowledgeable article on SDDs. Allas...when all this reasearch will happen in Indian Universities. Hope the new bill on Fo...

2 days 57 minutes ago by abhi32002@gmail.com on APAC HPC users eye solid-state drives

It was a good article. This brings a good opportunity for Indian IT firms to come up with new solutions in this field. HPC can become a b...

2 days 16 minutes ago by abhi32002@gmail.com on High computing most-wanted job in Asia

COL KR DHARMADHIKARY(RETD) its very late to reply the link, but if it is still alive and looking for opportunity, i would like to know th...

2 days 13 minutes ago by deb021280 on Education takes off in rural India, helped by PCs

High performance computing (HPC) most-wanted job in Asia http://bit.ly/9vFC3i (via @zdnetasia) #singapore

He doesn't care if her shoes are of glass, All he wants to see is a huge rack and nice a*s. Sleeping beauty's not awoken by true ...

2 days 47 minutes ago by warlowdavies on One pair of 3D glasses to rule them all

RT @zdnetasia: EMC COO, Pat Gelsinger, on bridging gaps in the organization and its cloud ambitions in Asia. (cont) http://tl.gd/i5jjd

EMC COO, Pat Gelsinger, on bridging gaps in the organization and its cloud ambitions in Asia. http://bit.ly/9etOZW

Asian SMBs need to pay more attention to disaster recovery planning http://bit.ly/bDet08 via @zdnetasia

Asian SMBs need to pay more attention to disaster recovery planning http://bit.ly/bDet08

[TECH] URL Shorteners slow Web redirection. - http://bit.ly/bySnWK @zdnetasia

URL shorteners are great but they can slow web redirection & you pray it would never go down http://bit.ly/bySnWK via @zdnetasia

URL shorteners slow Web redirection. http://bit.ly/bySnWK

Chinese agencies cry foul over Google. http://bit.ly/by6rwV

all of sg's isps have been practising compulsory invisible proxy for all home subscribers at their backend since many years back alre...

3 days 57 minutes ago by melvinchia on Web filters mean bad news for business

it is not to good for china.
Proactol

3 days 42 minutes ago by nathonastle on Chinese ad partners beg Google for information

Very good explanation of JMX

4 days 47 minutes ago by Babith B on Managing applications with JMX

The reaction to a report issued Tuesday by Flurry Analytics managed to completely overlook some interesting news--the Android-based Motorola Droid outsold the original iPhone over the same period of time following their respective launches--to focus instead on the sales numbers for the Nexus One.

4 days 51 minutes ago by lonemavericks on diggs

Another ZTE story....

4 days 52 minutes ago by Moderate Your Greed on Philippines opens bid for final 3G license

We at www.fifosys.com have also seen a growth in IT outsourcing and anticipate it as a growing field.

5 days 26 minutes ago by sarah Jane on Companies' outsourcing spend to increase

I agree with you. The iSiVaL is super portable and TVs can't expand their image size. I recorded a video that might bring some ideas to...

5 days 56 minutes ago by Jesse B Andersen on Buying a projector? Try an LED TV instead

hermm... he deserved it.. he shud not talk abt sensitive things like tat, well, he shud think twice before saying all those things, event...

5 days 34 minutes ago by ... on Facebook user charged in Malaysia

Password manager tools are potential security threat. Criminals who hack into the computer can use the password manager to log onto any s...

5 days 34 minutes ago by ohanae on What defaults should random password generators use?

I've found the cross platform utility unetbootin to be rather handy for this kind of thing as well.

5 days 9 minutes ago by Jim on Use Live USB Creator to install Fedora 12 from a USB stick

Keep up with ZDNet Asia

Linkedin Join our network

RSS Feeds Subscribe now

Newsletters Subscribe today

Twitter Follow us

Inside ZDNet Asia

Special Report: Tech Focus in 2010

Latest Videos on Tech Industry

Insight: Interviews with Newsmakers

Search for over 15,000 Tech Jobs in Asia

Find your Tech answers in TechGuides

IT Library: Over 60,000 IT papers at your fingertips

Download IT Priorities 2010 Report