After resisting for some time, I decided to give the more popular social media/networking sites such as Facebook and MySpace a try. I’m more of a blogger, so social networking/media sites such as Facebook or MySpace didn’t appeal to me at first. But b/c i’m in the business of understanding consumer behavior and web marketing, it’s important that I experience first-hand what others are experiencing instead of observing in the stands.

It’s interesting how these web 2.0 sites have made things more transparent (even if illusory) and are used for personal ‘branding’. I’m not nearly as paranoid about some personal info being leaked out to the public as I was before. After a week of using Facebook, I could see how this could be effectively used as a personal web portal to one’s blog, credentials, interests, and views, etc. Unless you have a popular blog that fetches a lot of visitors, it’s difficult for people to find you. People are more likely to remember a name through pics and by seeing that a friend has added another friend that you may know, you may be connected to that person again, if that is what you want, of course. In a way, Facebook will be used as a hub of my info (that i care to release out there anyway). It’s also interesting to see how companies such as Southwest and Kayak are using Facebook to market to their customers.