I have a larger online digital existence than any other individual I know. Photos, PDF files, and video bits are 'out there' on the net and form a part of the 'online me'. My blog which I wisely named, my eJournal and images, continues to be the main repository for this data. During the past five years of daily entries, its focus has changed and developed. I still think of it as a permanent storehouse of digital junk. However, more of my temporary information is moving into Facebook.
For example, it doesn't make sense to include a great deal my on-going digital consumption in my blog. It turns out to be, however, a great place to report the itinerary on an overseas trip, or to include memoirs from years back. My blog is my own digital archives. Yet, if I want to share a particular podcast I've found interesting, my Facebook wall proves to be a better location for it. That information is not my own and so I cannot vouch that its URL will remain intact for more than a week. Still it has become a part of me, and I want to add it somewhere!The fact that Facebook sucks in my blog's feed and even the pictures I add to the thousands on Flickr, it becomes a great place to get my 'digital summary'. The ability to quickly add a link is a hell of a lot more efficient than emailing those people I feel might be interested in it.
I really have no patience for friends who cannot figure out the importance of using a Facebook account, but remember, I'm often kind of rude about the fact. If they're really worth communicating with, then they'll join in 2009 or be left in my digital dust.