Too old for social networking?

A year older and a year wiser hopefully. Or another year where I just don’t get ‘social networking’ sites?

I’ve seen Friendster and Orkut come and go. All these silly invites I keep receiving for LinkedIn, FaceBook, whatever-reunited and WAYN. It reminds me of some pyramid scheme.

Then at startup events which I sometimes attend, ‘social networking’ is like the hottest buzz word since the Mobile Web™. In fact “mobile web social networking” (with AJAX) is probably the next Web 3.0. puke I’ve also heard people defend it, by calling it “community management”. Ah, does that make it better? No.

Here are my issues with social networking:

• Social networking isn’t exactly new. I’ve been around since the very early days like BBSes, like co-founding #durban on ZAnet and this is all a little ‘beneath me’. ;)
• I don’t want to meet people on the net. I’m sorry.
• I really don’t think it will get me laid.
• I am not sure it is a good idea if I want my social/sexual network mapped out. I don’t want people to know who I ‘know’ exactly. It could get me into trouble.
• Then if my “reputation” is tarnished, how do I repair it?
• Start again? New identity? Who is who? Who are you? Make new friends? Yeah, right.
• I think business contacts/partners are a precious thing and with LinkedIn, I think you’re supposed to share them. A relationship is a lot more deeper and meaningful than a Web link could ever be. I wouldn’t let someone look at my business card collection, even my precious business contacts.
• Worst thing is often you don’t seem to own this data. It’s all in the hands of the crazy bunch of guys known as the “FaceBook admins”.
• Who are absolutely desperate to sell all this personal information they’ve gathered about you and buy themselves some real friends ;)

Ok, I’ll finish by trying to be constructive. If these things were using standards (XFN, microformats?) and had more user control, then I would be happier. These proprietary islands of “social connectivity” feel wrong.