Question of the Week: Is Facebook becoming the new AOL?

I have a pretty limited Facebook presence, but I know plenty of people spend nearly all of their online time there, and it seems to be getting easier to do that. Your friends and family are there, so you can keep in touch with each other via status updates, and comments on those updates can lead to actual conversation (of a sort). You can keep up with all sorts of mainstream news and entertainment sources via their own “fan pages” and the links your Facebook friends share, and chances are that most of your favorite blogs cross-post updates there too (mine does, and most days it’s all I do there). You can stay informed about products and services and activities by becoming their fan as well. And of course, there are all the quizzes and games to occupy your downtime…

I suspect that some  people may be getting nearly all they really want from the Internet from Facebook – one-stop shopping, in a way. It reminds me of the online experience about a decade or so ago, when most people you found online were found on America Online. AOL was a one-stop shop for a while, too – a controlled, filtered environment (remember when websites had their own AOL keywords in addition to – or instead of – web addresses?) that offered enough of everything that many users didn’t really consider going anywhere else. America Online was “being online,” period.

But there was a lot more to the Internet than AOL…and there’s more than Facebook, too. Although Facebook gives its users a lot more control than AOL ever did – users effectively do their own filtering – the feel of the experience is starting to seem a lot like that old-school portal to me. Does anyone go off surfing the ‘net any more?

Full disclosure: I never had an AOL account, so I didn’t have that particular online experience myself. I don’t venture too far beyond what comes to me in Google Reader some days, so that’s my one-stop shop. And I pose this week’s question in full knowledge that this post will be fed to Facebook, which seems mildly ironic.

What do you think? Are you spending most of your online time on Facebook – has it become your one-stop shop for your online needs?

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Dispatches: Links from Across the Blogiverse this Week

Planning a trip to New York City? I am, and I know a lot of others – BEA- and BlogHer-goers – are too. New Yorkers really do like to be helpful, so here’s some advice for getting around without looking too much like a tourist

Some issues cross from one sector of the blogiverse to another – they just have specific twists in each. For example: if reviewing is reviewing, regardless of the item reviewed, should authors be treated differently from companies? Somewhat related: finding the blogger/brand engagement balance

Just don’t think you have a post in you today? You probably do – you just need help finding it

I didn’t write this list, but I endorse these suggestions for managing your Google Reader, since I use nearly all of them

Here’s your ’80’s Flashback for Friday: song lyrics that couldn’t belong to any other decade. And traveling further back in time – songs that scream “The ’70’s!”

You Are Italian

Ah, you are a true romantic. You enjoy all of the sensual pleasures in love – delicious food, soul stirring music, a beautiful sunset… And you always seem to be able to find the words to describe each experience perfectly. You are a charming and seductive person. You just have that certain something that draws people to you. You are passionate about words. Words can easily inspire, delight, or anger you. It’s sometimes all about how something was said.

Friday Fill-ins #172

1. I’d like more than six hours of sleep every once in a while (without having to go to bed at 9 PM!).
2. One of my most favorite romantic memories is my first date with my second husband, which happened five years ago tomorrow! ❤
3. Last night, I had a burger cooked on the grill for dinner.
4. Sorry for the small number of links this week!
5. Can we go out and get some coffee now?
6. One of my worst temptations is procrastinating with Google Reader; all those unread posts can be hard to resist!
7. And as for the weekend, tonight I’m looking forward to the end of the work week (it’s been busy!), tomorrow my plans include my first (mini) Comic Con – this will be like the warm-up for San Diego in July! and Sunday, I want to do some reading, writing, and hanging out around the house!

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