Rebels of Facebook, or how to resist social networks

The more than 800 million users who have adopted since 2004 have made Facebook the social network a social phenomenon, but many rebels, technophobes or jealous guardians of their privacy, continue to refuse to dive into the internet community.

The network was founded in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg, a student at Harvard University, filed Wednesday record of what promises to be the largest IPO ever for the network economy, amounted to 5 for now billion.

Eight years after its creation, Facebook is all conversations and it is not quite sure if social relations "physical" are influenced by social networks or if they determine the first.

This is precisely what can not accept the twenty-first century rebels who refuse to join Facebook: the peer pressure, which requires a hue and cry that he join the family "Facebookiens".

"Finally, I broke down, and now I have 200 friends," told AFP Matthew Herman, a fashion designer for 31 years who opened his account last Saturday after she had refused for years.

On the one hand, Mr. Herman resisted "by a form of snobbery, contrary to the mainstream," he said. "I was proud to live my life so real (...). I simply did not want to participate in something that everyone was talking. "

But on the other side, "there were more meetings that I was not aware, and I was told: + Oh, you're not on Facebook, I completely forgot + t invite. "

In addition, in-tell meetings, Matthew ended up never knowing what the guests spoke. Thus he finally caved and to register, finally recognizing that this is a good way to reconnect with old friends.

He observes that when he finally made the leap, his friends were greeted with a deluge of messages of welcome, as if they were happy to finally find the lost sheep.

There are also people who refuse Facebook because they consider it a waste of time or because they do not know how social network membership, preferring to ignore them all eventually.

"There are many social sites available: Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Google +", told AFP Mike Isaac, a journalist for the magazine Wired sp�calis�e in technology. "So, it is difficult to separate the wheat from the chaff and instead of choosing one, some decide to dispense with all".

Another reason to avoid Facebook's security. "With the amount of liars and impostors, many people are afraid to expose their privacy on the Internet," says Mr. Isaac.

"The security configurations are anything but clear, instead of navigating through complicated filters to protect their personal data, they prefer not to participate," he said. "This is especially true for children whose parents see a dim view of the presence on the internet."

"There are a significant number of technophobes who are embarrassed at the idea of ??embracing social networks. Those who were not born with the information society, for example, are more likely to be against this new medium, "he says.

This does not prevent the elderly from being one of the user segments the fastest growth, he said, adding that many of them adopt Facebook to get in touch with their children and grandchildren distant.