Facebook..what's all the hype?

I'd heard of this facebook thing, but with the proliferation of similar thingies like LinkedIn, Plaxo, Myspace, and all the others, I'm trying to limit what I sign up to, and how many places I have to maintain ALL THIS STUFF!

Anyway, over the weekend, I signed up to facebook. And I can see how people become addicted to this stuff. After adding a few friends and colleagues, suddenly I can see what they're up to, what they're interested in outside of what I may know about them, who their friends and colleagues are, and god knows whatever else they want to share about themselves.

It can be anything from the minutae of their lives (XX is chilling out, YY is going down to the pub to watch the rugby etc), to the big, important questions...like "Which is better: Gymea Pub or Northies?" That's an in joke for anyone who knows anything about THE SHIRE. But I found this scintilating question on the group Sutherland Shire: God's Country.

There are bwzillions of other groups - professional organisations, groups by activity, interest, region, age, languages etc; groups about beauty, beliefs and causes, dating and relationships, friends, gardening, health and wellness, pets and animals, travel and the list goes on.

Travel is a passion of mine, so I signed up to a couple of travel groups that cauhgt my eye. This is where I could begin to see the commercial potential of these sites...