Some of you have been asking what is the Facebook account for graphility or its members. Wide are the eyes when we reply there is no such thing. As to why, I reply with two simple questions:

1. why join the bandwagon for other reasons than mass effect? The question is thus: what can Facebook offer me, as a community or a single user, that I or graphility would not achieve in a more tailored way?
2. why could I ever want to publish something on a social network that tries, time and again, to retain all rights over my content?

I will not address the issue of Facebook’s Terms of Service and Privacy, as it is extensively covered at Mashable – if you are a Facebook user, I strongly suggest you read their policy, though. No, I would much rather question the existence of Facebook altogether, and what it does to encourage you to join.

CMS, social networks, and Human nature

Once upon a time, when the Internet was young, people who wanted to communicate in this new medium had to take on a learning curve. They had to fiddle with modem connections, clumsy HTML, and even TCP/IP!

A virtue of mankind is that nothing can stop an adventurous mind set on knowledge and discovery. And so, despite these technical challenges, many found their ways through network and code and managed to publish their victorious Hello, world! for all to read. And all was good for a while.

Technology advanced, telecom lines gained speed, (some) standards were developed, and little by little, new software appeared to help web authors in their endeavors. The Content Management System was born, and with virtually no technical barriers left, communication attained its supremacy. Blogs appeared and people started writing, shooting, documenting. The basic Human need to scream I am here, I exist! was satisfied. Some platforms were developed by individuals, others were open source, others were corporate owned but with free accounts. People still needed to know a bit of code to maintain their blogrolls, change templates, or add widgets to their page. Some DIY was left. And all was good for a while.

The problem today is that everything is spoon-fed and monkey-proof. Communities exist (Facebook, anyone?) where anyone can open an account and start posting daily routines, cat pictures and whatnot. While this is great for people who have absolutely no interest in technology, there is another side of Human nature, a darker side, that we neglected to mention: sloth. Nowadays, an account is yours in minutes to start filling it up. Most people do not really connect, they hardly read or write or see, but all share smilies and beer emoticons. Everybody is happy on Facebook. And so, all must be good, right?

I am not against online communities. Graphility is one. Flickr is another. I believe in exclusive communities with a narrow purpose. A community where you log in to share specific content with others in order to showcase your work, get critics, and learn. But when a community becomes a portal with no purpose other than gathering people, anyone, what is left? A grimace of our real world for aimless flocks to converge. And that is Facebook.

Facebook is a business, and in the good old monopolistic way, they want to swallow all other media around (blogging, microblogging, calendar sharing, content posting). From a business perspective, I cannot really blame them. Instead, I address those who are so lazy as to not read the small imprint, only joining the bandwagon because so many are there already. Those who got a warm fuzzy feeling when they received a mail from some high school punk they had not seen in years, for a good reason. Those who only live their lives vicariously through others. But hey, who cares about that in the online world, as long as you can display 374 friends, all must be well.

About the author  Hector Fabio Hurtado, also known as Hiddenson, is an independent art director and graphic creative. read other posts from this author