AuraBlaze : Well as I said before it sort of became a mandatory thing for me for business reasons to get on these sites… It definitely was not a comfortable thing for me because like I said before I am a semi-old-school type of person and went by years without needing or even thinking about social media.
I have been writing since 1995 so that will give you an idea of how long I’ve been writing and how long I have been set in my ways to a degree. I even have gone as far as to avoid chat rooms unless it was a staff meeting for a website or a magazine that I was working for etc.

I am a very approachable person but at the same time I value my privacy to a big extent and, value my position in regard to my work and take my responsibilities seriously. One thing that concerns me about social media is that I am hoping that I don’t run into problems with some people from my past whom were not good to me and quite frankly were part of what made my teen years difficult.

I have already had a couple of friend requests come my way that I have chose to ignore simply because as I said I am on there for business reasons and, am being extremely selective about who I allow access to. Most of the people I have allowed access to know that I am there for business reasons and have been very respectful toward me and even supportive as they know I am not comfortable yet I am doing what I have to do for work purposes even though I do have obvious mixed feelings/reluctance for the entire concept.

I haven’t played any of the games on there as of yet… I have also gotten my share of requests for games also. The reason for that is simply because I have been busy as of late in regard to my work and I haven’t had time to evaluate them to make sure their safe. I realize that I may seem like a square for lack of a better term to some people but I am just an extremely cautious person and because of my responsibilities I want to avoid trouble any way I can, if I can etc.

My main concern as I said is not being forced to open the door so to speak to people that simply were not good to me or more importantly good for me. The good thing is I haven’t posted anything personal and have even kept my locations to myself to best ensure that I won’t have an unwelcomed surprise show up at my door. (Some of these people whom weren’t good to me know where I live, or did back in the day.)

MegaRevolution1 : I know how you feel… As I said I have very mixed feelings about this and have said openly that if it were not more or less a requirement now for me for my work to be on these sites that I probably wouldn’t give social media a second thought.

As I said I try to keep the scope of what I post work related with either links to stuff that I’ve done or messages regarding fight cards that I am covering etc. I try my best to avoid any drama and, really try to avoid people whom may be angry or, people with nothing else better to do with their lives then to give others a hard time or to make things personal etc. This is one reason why I have been very selective about who I allow access to.

It's not the site's fault, if you have drama and stupid crap on your Facebook or Myspace then blame it on the morons on your friends list.

I rely on Facebook to network with a lot of people - Distant friends, family, and even business clients and co-workers. It helps me plan outings and events with my friends, and in some cases it's my only way of contacting people.

I've also made some very amazing internet friends on Facebook, some of which I have been talking to for four years or more. In a lot of ways I need Facebook to enhance my social life, otherwise I'd spend a lot more weekends with nothing to do to!

Networking using Facebook has been a huge success for me. It's opened the door for a lot of amazing opportunities that have changed my life and paved the way for my career.

Annette : That is my goal if possible to not only help build a following but, if I can get an opportunity to advance my career from a magazine or a company that might have seen me or my work and contacts me through social media I certainly would be open to that. I’d be a fool not to be.


As I said I try to keep it strictly professional so I’m hoping that it will lead to good things despite my mixed feelings.

I don't think so because if you give out personal information to your friends on the social network then other people can see that. Also because you never know who you're talking to on the network. It could be a weird old man and I know kids don't want to talk to weird old men.

I don't have a facebook...but I wish I did. So I can't really comment...

pieman9 : But...you just did. You shouldn't wish for things, you gotta make things happen. Why wish for something that's easily attainable anyway? You could make one right now in a few minutes.

I don't think that social networks are bad. Actually, Myspace was/is pretty bad, but Facebook is not bad. It's one of the only methods that I am able to stay in contact with certain people.

NotJon : My mom doesn't want me to.

pieman9 : If you really want one, you should explain to her that there's nothing to worry about. Take some points from this thread and try to coerce her into another way of thinking. Ever since what happened to me on Myspace about 5 years ago, my Mom didn't want me to go on any site like that again. Then 2 years ago my friend kinda just made me a Facebook profile and I started using it and after a while my Mom didn't really care lol.

well, this kind of IS a social networking site...

epic-san : Well it is but this is a little different… This reminds me more of an old school message board, (The types that I use to have to admin back in the day for the companies I use to work for.) What sets Vizzed apart from that is obviously you can play games on here but also the content of the boards varies where as the boards I use to be involved with centered around one topic I.E. Sports Baseball, Football, Hockey etc.

To add to my post that I made a long time ago, I also found my current boyfriend on Facebook. He added me because we were fans of the same Lord of the Rings page, LOL. So overall my social networking experience continues to be a good one.

I don't think they're bad.

You can always lie and stuff.

And Vizzed is a social network, yes.

There's nothing 'evil' about social networking sites. It's a good way to keep up with people, as log as you aren't on all the time. I check Facebook maybe once a day.

tj4bigred : I have been able to avoid the negative things I heard about social networking before I had to get into it. I think the reason that I have been able to avoid it is because per my responsibilities I have to be on the networks often, at least three or four times daily. So I really micro manage my networks. I have people I grew up with, some old friends and even some that I thought I’d never speak to again following me. I pretty much let anyone follow me so I also have a lot of people following me internationally. I do keep a close eye on things to make sure that A no one bashes me publicly and B that there isn’t any vulgarity with my name attached. I don’t hold anything against anyone who posts a negative opinion of me I’m talking strictly about people pointing profanities at me and or personal attacks etc.

So far it has been a pleasant experience for the most part. The thing that can be a pain is when you’ve learned how one network works and you pretty much have it memorized, the network updates and things that you found in certain places have been moved or rearranged. It’s a pain when one network does that let alone when you got several networks doing it at the same time. I’ve been considering getting an ipad so that I can manage my networks easier when I don’t want to be on my PC. That will be an adventure in of itself to learn and use.

Annette: I haven’t hooked up with anyone on FB or any other network but I have had a few offers from some women of my past. I haven’t acted on em so much because of A my schedule and B it seemed a little odd that I’ve haven’t talked to or seen these people in years yet some were so quick to go you wanna hook up? I don’t know if it is because I am a writer and that makes people think that I make a lot of money or, if it’s a genuine thing or not. Maybe one of these days I’ll have enough free time to meet up with some of them for a cup of coffee or something who knows.

Galacta: I have learned that they really aren’t bad if you know what you’re doing and micro manage what you’re doing at all times. It is never good to lie though. Always better to be honest with people but keep a part of you’re life private. This is why I use social media for business purposes. I usually start my day with a good morning or afternoon (Keeps odd hours, usually does writing overnight.) to those who are following me. I try to keep the majority of things I post work related. I don’t go on there and say stuff like, I feel like crap today or so and so ticked me off and such. It’s better to keep it professional though it definitely annoys some that know me personally that I don’t share my personal stuff. I’m an old school type that believes that some things should be kept private so that’s how I play it.

Well I sorta have a face book though I don't use it much anymore except for special stuff in games I play online.  I made one to keep in contact with my brother and an online friend but then we all stopped using it lol.  My brother and I realize it's more fun to talk on the phone and my online friend and I like to use MSN way more.  Now it's there if I want to try out a new game or something like that.  (Most every new online game needs you to sign up using face book now....)

Myspace was fun in highschool but then it got old and boring and we all dropped that.  (I have not heard from anyone from highschool in bout 7 years lol).   So I guess I'm indifferent to social networking I just can't get into them, but I see the pros and cons of them.  As long as  your smart no one has to know who you are online.  I never put up my info (yah once did and regretted that decision.)

RequiemHaunt : I guess it is a little different for everyone. As I said when I got on social media it was strictly because I had to for business reasons and in addition to helping me gain more notoriety and helping me finally start getting noticed it has helped me reconnect with some relationships that I thought wouldn’t happen. In that aspect it is good. As I said I think the main reason I’ve been able to avoid anything negative in regard to social networking is because I micro manage it and keep a close eye on things. I also play games from time to time it’s a good way to relax on those days that I’m not working and don’t feel like booting up my PS3 for gaming or movies.

Well personally, I prefer Facebook and Twitter. Those are the two social sites I use. What's good about those two sites, you can block your information from people you don't know. I only add people I know and trust on facebook and I use twitter as a promotional site for things I want to promote. It's basically up to the person whether or not they want to use those kinds of websites. I never liked MySpace and I will never go back to that site. The ONLY good thing was making your profile all spiffy. Everything else I hated about it.