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62 PC MAGAZINE NOVEMBER 6, 2007

DAN COSTA

On campuses everywhere, Facebook is

bigger than binge drinking. That is a good

thing, but the company’s recent decision

to extend beyond colleges presents gradu-

ates with a problem potentially even more

destructive than underage drinking: over-

age Facebooking. Facebook’s beauty was

the community of like-minded users to

which it catered. Now, the company has

decided to expand its focus and invite

users of all ages to join the fray. Bad idea.

Facebook is killing the originality of its

community.

If Facebook wants to use its technology

to help people who aren’t college students

network, it should rebrand itself or even

launch a separate site. Perhaps to TheBig-

Chill.com? Maybe give users the option of

connecting across networks, the way The

Knot does for wedding planners. Once

married, they are dumped into The Nest.

I am not trying to keep the 50-

something, married software engineer

away from the 17-year old coed cheer-

leader majoring in Art History—although

maybe I should be. I simply believe there is

far more value for the people of the Face-

book community if Facebook the company

continues to focus on the college students

who made it successful.

Social-networking sites want as many

people to sign up as possible, so they can

make the most money before they sell to

Google or Yahoo!. But that doesn’t mean

you should join. My advice is to follow a

few simple rules before you sign up for any

old network. Bear in mind, these aren’t the

companies’ stated rules—they are mine.

They tend to break down by age range.

MySpace

(teens/young adults, 14 to 30 years old)

MySpace is the gateway social-network-

ing service—there is nothing wrong with

passing through it, but make sure you get

to the other side. It’s garish, loud, and inﬁ -

nitely customizable. Almost everybody I

know, of every age, has a MySpace page.

Officially, you have to be 14 years old to

was 11 and simply claimed to be 100 years

old. If you are older than 30, it is time to

move on. Leave the page up as a testament

to your youth, but it is time to put away

childish things.

There are two exceptions to this rule.

First, if you are a musician, a MySpace

page is job requirement. MySpace made

its bones helping bands connect with fans,

and it remains one of the best ways for

bands to reach fans. I would also make an

exception for political candidates, though

I don’t really believe Rudy Giuliani and

Hillary Clinton are staying up late updat-

ing their Top 8s. These Potemkin pages

may be a farce, but they’re still better than

having kids get all their political informa-

tion from South Park.

Friendster

(old Friendster users, 25 to 35)

It isn’t that no one under 25 should have

a Friendster page; it’s just that no one

under 25 has one. The company claims to

have more than 48 million members, but

I bet most of those pages haven’t been

updated in a long time. Industry reports

claims page views are rising, but it seems

to me Facebook and MySpace are stealing

Friendster’s lunch—and eating it at the

cool kids’ table.

LinkedIn.com

(professionals, 22 to 80)

LinkedIn is designed for business network-

ing and makes it pretty easy to connect to

your peers and keep your professional

history online. Just don’t try to use it for

romance. This is a place to do business.

eHarmony

(straight singles, 35 to 60)

After you put your single ways—or that

first marriage—behind you, this is the

place to go for romantic compatibility.

Unfortunately, the site doesn’t offer any

options for gay people. Founder Neil Clark

Warren says it is because he hasn’t done

enough research into same-sex relation-

ships to provide accurate matches. Yahoo!

and Match.com will gladly ﬁ ll in the gap.

aSmallWorld

(beautiful, rich, and powerful of any age)

For the most exclusive social network, you

can try to get into aSmallWorld. Whereas

most networking services want to do

everything to get you to sign up, aSmall-

World probably won’t let you pass the

home page. To join you have to be invited

by a trusted member. Once past the virtual

velvet rope, you are presumably treated to

pop-ups for high-end cognac and ocean-

front real-estate in the Hamptons. I will

report back as soon as my invite arrives.

There is a community for everyone,

every reason, and every season online.

One giant, connected, indiscriminate net-

work would look like, well, the Web. Sure,

online social networking is all the rage, but

you have to know your place. Just because

you get an invite doesn’t mean you should

accept it. Please network responsibly.

VOICE YOUR OPINION Debate Dan on this

topic at go.pcmag.com/costa.

Facebook decided to expand its focus and invite users

of all ages to join the fray. Bad idea.  e company

is killing the originality of its community.

My Space Is Not Your Space

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