Pája ...having times of my life

Friday, February 13, 2009

Who is your "friend"?

Without any doubt - Facebook became a part of the Generation Y´s life (Gen Y - ppl in their twenties and thirties)
The other day I have been wondering about the Facebook ethics. I have not found any formal document regarding this issue. Anyone knows, if there is any?
My point is that people are using something, that they really don´t know how to use. Some people are more conservative with putting their personal info online, the other change their status every second hour to let me know that they have just gone to take a shower.

But the basic question I have been thinking of is following: Who to add into your Facebook account? The current number of my "friends" list is now (after a recent adjustment) 287 people. However, some of them are very close, some of them I have talked to just once or twice. The second group I try to reduce (nice to be in touch, but email is just nice tool of communication). And when it comes to adding people to your "friends" list, what is right? Who you should add and who is ment to stay out of your cyber life?

Facebook has its "Life cycle"(taken from a marketing perspective). The theory is elaborating on 4 phases - Introduction, Growth, Maturity and Decline.
The first two phases come together. The new user of Facebook is excited and keeps on adding new friends, interacts, puts all the pictures he has from now and from the past. The Maturity phase follows, while the user realizes that he is already wondering who to add and who to ignore (esp. the completely unknown stalkers) and starts to reduce the status updating frequency and pictures-of-every-day-life uploading. Accodring to myself, the Decline phase = the "reaching the know-how" how to use Facebook comes last. I think I am on the way there... :) Nowadays I choose who I know enough to add him into my cyber life page and which pictures and situations I want to share with all my "friends". As I mentioned above, the list of my "friends" has reached quite a high number. So, my question is - to delete or not to delete. And if so, who to delete. What is the measure of being a "friend" on Facebook. And here we come back to the beginning - Where is the written ethics of Facebook?

Sunday, February 08, 2009

The good thing about my final exam

Fistly I have to say, that I have successfully passed both exams (huge thanks for the support) and that I am no longer forced to study for any kind of exam in order to get my university degree. Only a master thesis to be written.
On one hand this thought sounds cool and exciting. On the other hand, life now seems a bit empty without all the lectures to come, tests to be writen and hours to be spent with books. Life will change. But that´s life :)

During my study time (aprox. one month) I have realized two things. Firstly, the whole studying for Commercial communication and International trade exams gave me a big picture on the field of economy - international trade especially (which was actually the purpose:P). Many things got finally connected and shaped, several of them had just clicked. I got more into the monetary functions, how the banking and trading system works and so on. Actually, I am gratefull for this kind of final exam, cause now I see that during the passed 6 years I have really learned something, that hopefully I will be able to push forward in coming years.

Secondly, there is one thing I have again made sure about: I admire people, who are mastering the feild of their work. Who understand the reasons and the consequeces of issues that they are dealing with in their professional life. What do I mean exactly? The lecturers at our universities, the economists that write commentaries to the newspapers and people who know what is "behind the thing". These people inspire me and motivate me to strive for the same. To become a master in a field that once I will be working in.