Facebook is not dumb

A columnist for the Chicago Tribune, Eric Zorn, doesn't understand Facebook. People's expectations are too high. They think it's some sort of savior or fix-it-all website. It's not. But it does enable you to keep in touch with your larger network.

People think it's dumb to keep in touch by updating your status. Or by doing some sort of profile or whatever. But it's a connection. Keep those connections alive, and it will help you in the long run.

From page 54 of “The Tipping Point:”

Granovetter argues that is is because when it comes to find out about new jobs — or, for that matter, new information, or new ideas -- “weak ties” are always more important than strong ties. Your friends, after all, occupy the same world that you do. They might work with you, or live near you, and go to the same churches, schools, or parties. How much, then, would they know that you wouldn’t know? Your acquaintances, on the other hand, by definition occupy a very different world than you. They are much more likely to know something that you don’t. To capture this apparent paradox, Granovetter coined a marvelous phrase: the strength of weak ties. Acquaintances, in short, represent a source of social power, and the more acquaintances you have the more powerful you are.