Follow up:

I was pleasantly surprised at how little profile information I HAD to fill in. I find the chore a bit difficult, as public display of my hobbies, likes/dislikes & information is something I shy away from. I also realized this site is a bit different than others. I suppose I associate social networks with IM's (which is really isn't proper to do.) Certainly you can search for friends, join groups & networks, but what I like best are the applications.

As you've likely realized if you've been to my website, I like gadgets. While I did install igoogle (when I bother to log in) & I've put several of those on my website. FB is kind of the ultimate in gadgetry. There are literally thousands to choose from & they can be added or removed with the click of a button. Some games have come (and shortly will go) but Scrabulous is "da bomb!" I love it. There are a couple others that intrigue me as well - such as 6 degrees - a test on the theory of degrees of separation. Nothing to do with that one but sit & watch how many degrees of separation between you & the developer as more and more people begin using it. I check the new apps daily to see if there's anything else I want, but I don't jump on the wagon to join every one I get a notification on when friends add one.

I find the FB messaging system is sufficient to enable reasonably easy communication, once you've managed to figure out how to add a friend. It's not so easy to get on someones list and get them on yours - but once you do, it's not so bad. I pop over once or twice a day to make my game moves (which is quite convenient) & check for any new notifications. I did try adding an app to IM with FB contacts as well as YH, AIM, ICQ, WLM, and a few others, but found while my contacts could see me & contact me, I had a hard time figuring how to tell who it was. I could hear audible tones msgsages were comthruthru but until I discovered who it was & clicked on their name, it didn't just pop up like I'm used to. Application removed - perhaps to be added back when it's tweaked a bit.

Anyway...after all that rambling..FB is likely a keeper since I enjoy browsing the add-ins. Not sure it surpasses IM progs tho. I do prefer the instantaneousness of YH & WLM far beyond just an extended email system with gadgets, but I guess it has it's place in my reperotoire of daily sites.