Skandia Team GBR

Monday, January 14, 2008

Connected and Exposed!

So, this is not truly a "sailing" post, but it's enough to warrant some time in writing and hopefully some thoughts and ideas from anyone that may be listening/reading...

So I use FaceBook (I'm Here), and although the original buzz has definitely gone, it's still a valuable and useful tool and holds significant value for me..

You see what's happened is a whole heap of people I have sailed with or against over the last 25years (well 80 or so of them so far) have also joined FaceBook and I therefore have some great links with the past, with people I still share a common passion for and whom I don't want to loose touch with again...

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But...

Facebook is currently a walled-garden, I don't get any way to extract those Names, email-address etc from "my friends" into some other social-network or contacts list or whatever... so if FaceBook goes or if I leave  (or if my contacts leave) then all those valuable contacts, connections and relationships go with it!

So I have a very valuable (to me) list of people and the data is locked-away, normally I cope with "walled-gardens", but this is the first time that I actually feel like I could loose something of serious value..

So, I guess the question is do I spend hours of my life, going to each person and manually transferring their details to a more open repository/network... or do I wait for a "magic-tool" or will FaceBook change it's attitude...

So how do you keep those contacts "safe"?

You go to a regatta, you gel with someone, you get new acquaintances, you sail with someone new,  what next... jot down their details on paper, beer-mat, PDA (Mr.Woodward), or go home and search for them in your favourite social-network...?

Thoughts? I don't wanna be drinking on my own in the sailing club bar...

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