Sorry, I'm not feeling social today

Please. I don't want to Link In with you today. I don't want to see your Face, or read your Book. It's not that I don't like you. I do. I'd Twitter with you anytime. It's just that if I get asked to join one more social network, I'm going to scream.

You wouldn't like that. I wouldn't like that.

I get social networking. I really do. I've been a member of online communities since the 80s. I've managed mailing lists using LISTSERV and Mailman; supervised online discussion groups on CompuServe; and I use LinkedIn and Facebook on a regular basis. I'm also on, but almost never use, Plaxo; Twitter and half-a-dozen others that I don't even recall joining.

These networks have been invaluable to me over the years for maintaining friendships over thousands of miles and years of time; finding both freelance and fulltime work; and sharing good times and bad times with those who are near and dear to me. So, please understand me when I say, in the nicest possible way, "Enough is enough! Do not; do not ask me to join another social network!"

In the last week, I've been asked to join Diigo. Friendster, amd Spokeo. The last one awares to want to play the CIA spook of the social networking world by tracking people down on the major social networks. Now, to those who asked me to join these, thank you. I appreciate that you're thinking of me. But, there are only so many minutes in a day. I don't have the time to any more 'social.'

Besides being as spread as thin as one pat of butter on two-slices of toast, I'm not crazy about what social networks do to privacy.

I don't want to live in a glass house. Far too many people seem to assume that the boss isn't going to find out about their college drinking binge, even though they describe it in great detail in their MySpace. So dumb. So wrong.

Or, take the 5 easy ways to commit career suicide described by Calvin Sun. Each and every one of those ways can be even deadlier when combined with social networking. It's one think Heck, you can do all of them at once. You could blog your buddies about how the boss made a drunken ass of himself with the lazy VP of marketing at the board of directors meeting. That pretty much covers four of the five. You really won't need to worry about the last one--Burning bridges when you resign. If you post a message like that one on a social network with people's proper names, your bridges are pretty much already in ashes.

So, thank you very much, but I already have enough social networking. Besides, I don't need any more opportunities to stick my foot in my mouth than I already have.