Funny how people don’t realize that privacy has long been dead.

I, for one, will not leave Facebook, come 31st May, when 3377 (at press time) Facebook users severe ties with Facebook, one of the most visited websites on the internet (at present, the most visited website in the United States, and the world’s top social networking site and most visited mobile social network).

I am not leaving, because despite having 3377 people pledging to quit Facebook, there are still over 400 million people on Facebook I can interact with, and Facebook still remains a very effective way to reach the masses in Asia Pacific. (Well, social media is my job.)

But I digress. The truth is this: Facebook, now branded as the evil privacy thief (and Mark Zuckerberg the king of the thieves), is no different from a blog. Except now you have fixed pages for you to post stories on, fixed albums for you to organize your photos in, a proper ‘biodata’ page to plonk in all the information you might ever want people to know about you, and a section to list all your likes and dislikes. Plus, you get to play games, shop online, get news, get updated with your friends’ lives, conduct business, make announcements, and a whole lot more you never thought it would be possible to do on a single site.

Facebook is a blog. A structured blog. Within a big big community.

So what makes it so “private”? Because in the first place, they give you the option of restricting access of content to people you want to give access to. And suddenly, you discover maybe things are not so private anymore because now you realize that Facebook mines data from your profiles, and your contacts’ profiles, if you don’t fix your privacy settings. [cue slight uproar]

Then came Open Graph, a whole new way of looking at ‘social sharing’. [cue major uproar] And this just tipped the bucket, I suppose. Websites like Gizmodo started making Top Ten lists of reasons of why people should quit Facebook. Two really passionate (and I always say this, passionate people are biased – I know I am) Canadian men started a website to get people to pledge to quit Facebook come 31 May.

Okay, so the reasons and arguments presented on websites like Gizmodo sound logical and are compelling. But that’s just good writing. The way Steve Jobs (or his PR people) wrote the article that convinced many that the iPhone really doesn’t need Flash. And as the old adage goes: the pen is mightier than the sword. If you write well (if you have a way with words), you will win the battle.

And as another old saying goes: There are two sides to every coin.

So don’t be caught up by the arguments presented in the lists you see on the internet that are written by brilliant writers who make a living of writing articles to convince people to buy products and services. Have you heard Facebook’s side of the story?

But again, I digress. My point is this:

If each Facebook user had the gumption to put on Facebook only what they are comfortable in revealing on the internet, we wouldn’t have this problem and this whole unnecessary uproar over a privacy issue that never existed (because privacy simply doesn’t exist in this information age). What makes the content you publish on Facebook so differentiated (in terms of privacy) from the content you would put on your blog?

Do you publish notes, random thoughts, photos, email addresses, names of friends on your blog? Chances are, you do.

So why this uproar over Facebook using these data to make your user experience better? Why the uproar over how they use this data to customize what kind of advertisements appear on your Facebook sidebar? Why the uproar over how Facebook makes everything super social, when you accept, from the start, the fact that Facebook is a social networking tool?

In my opinion, there really is no case at all.

If anything, Facebook users need to learn how to: exercise gumption and exercise discretion. And if you don’t know how to do that, perhaps the rest of us on Facebook won’t miss you being on it anyway.

And for the record: Privacy? That’s long gone. If you can’t live with it, you might want to completely stop using the internet completely (and that includes your email).

Here’s a pretty good article (actually it’s a Wiki, contributed by several authors) about how you can manage your Facebook profile and friends.

Read this article if:

1. You (you dinosaur, you) are still contemplating whether or not to join Facebook because you’re worried about ‘privacy issues’,
2. You feel that Facebook is “too personal” to link up with colleagues or business partners,
3. You’ve wondered whether or not to “friend” your ex,
4. You’ve had friends who post stories about sexual escapades, drunken moments, and racist comments on your wall,
5. You’re trying to decide if you should “friend” your boss or your boss’ boss

Don’t worry too much about how people judge you from that photo of your college party days back in 1997 or 2002 that recently found it’s way to Facebook through a friend who’s been scanning copies of his/her photo printouts. It shows you’re fun and hey, everyone’s had embarrassing moments.

If you really hate that photo, just un-tag it. Don’t get your panties into a knot just because someone’s posted a picture of you during your younger, wilder days.

Despite what some people think of Facebook (lack of privacy, so very unmanageable, I don’t need the whole world to know about me), and what some companies think of Facebook (for people who have nothing else better to do than post photos and check out other people’s profiles), Facebook is an important networking and marketing tool.

1. It creates a sometimes imagined facade the impression that you are approachable because people now know what books you like to read and what are your favorite shows on tv
2. It helps you keep in touch with old friends and acquaintances (and it never hurts to have an extended network that you can some day tap on)
3. It helps you maintain contact with new friends, customers and acquaintances
4. It gives people an avenue for getting updates about you (whether you’re an individual or a business)
5. It feeds not only your boredom but also your thirst for reading material – Facebook hosts an amazing amount of information that is actually useful at times, via your own friends who share links to articles, blogs, videos, websites, etc.

I can probably think of 100 reasons why you should be on Facebook, but if you have some reasons why you don’t think so, do share them! Or if you can think of other reasons why people should get on to Facebook, share them too!

Update 12 Aug 09, 15:14 hrs SGT: I got this from Zen on Plurk this morning:

I know I’ve said people should not be paranoid about adding their bosses on Facebook, but I guess people who have online verbal diarrhoea and don’t think about where they choose to take a dump should not add their bosses on Facebook.

Then again, they really shouldn’t be allowed anywhere near an internet connection.