Can I get an "amen"?! I quit Facebook quite a while ago, mostly over privacy concerns. But, I was definitely spending more time online in less meaningful ways, and who has time to spend doing meaningless things?

First, let's start with the irony - I just used my Facebook account to post this comment. Its true, FB can and does suck in a lot of ways. It also creates an opportunity for a lot of fake and meaningless interaction. However, it does serve at least one purpose for me in that it does allow me to keep 'light' contact with a lot of people who don't live in my area. Friends from my hometown and friends who have moved. It allows me to keep a sort of dialog open that allows us to easily pickup...

Thanks for your comments, James. I don't disagree that Facebook has potential to serve a purpose for keeping in touch. My experience has been that while it has that potential, it doesn't typically play out in practice. I typically have used email/IM for those types of "light" contact, instead. I think that Hoop.la has a lot of the tools that are needed to enable networking and community in an effective way. If you haven't already, I'd recommend you check it out (you can set up a free site to...

You're right about the noise, Brian.