Facebook has 400 million users—and I’m not one of them

Today Facebook turns 6 years old and celebrates its school age with numbers that would make even the most optimistic Internet observers pale: a whopping 400 million users, about 18 million of whom are Italian. And me? I’m not there. I am aware that this exclusion of mine raises questions among people who have known me for years and are very familiar with my (past and present) professional background. And yet? I’m not there. The reasons may be many, but at the same time, they are quite understandable. I’m not there because I don’t find any added value in Facebook for my professional development or my private life. I’m not there because those who want to find me know how. Just type my name and surname into Google to see for yourself. After all, even you, reading my post, could confirm it.

I’m not there because I have little time and the little I have left during the day or week, I prefer to spend doing something else. I’m not there because the word “friendship” makes me smile—I’ve always paid close attention to it, and finding myself with thousands, if not millions, of friends would scare me since I want to give all my attention to my friends. I’m not there because if I feel like talking to someone, it’s enough to pick up a phone—or better yet, dial a number on a cellphone—and hear a voice reply on the other end, without having to show an emoticon to express my mood. I’m not there because I don’t understand how people can spend all their time chatting when a workday is at least 8 hours long. I’m not there because I’ve always used chat tools (enough to have even written a publication about it) and the ones I use are simple and unobtrusive, especially since they fit my needs. I’m not there because I don’t feel like telling the world if I’m angry or happy; in the end, what would others really care? I’m not there because I don’t want to have to filter out the annoying person I’ve ignored forever, yet suddenly find as a “friend.” It’s not really a nice gesture of good manners—or better, netiquette—to refuse a friendship. I’m not there because, in the end, my presence would raise the count of Italian users to 18 million and 1, and nobody would notice. I’m not there because I’ve never felt the need, yet I don’t feel lonely. I’m not there and I don’t know if I ever will be. On the web or in life, after all, never say never.