I may be just one citizen, but I have never signed up for Facebook, aka Fakebook, and never will. I value my privacy and deem Fakebook, and the like as 1) an infringement on privacy, the same as inviting strangers into your home and personal life, and 2) a useless toy that cannot replace face-to-face contact or a phone call/hand written letter/e-mail to friends,family, etc....
I never have and never will use google for anything.
Also similar to Fakebook is Linkedin.com, a social network for professionals.
I probably go to Google ten times a day. Great help in settling arguments, finding crossword clues, old movie clips, just about anything. I am getting a bit sick of Facebook. Every time someone I don’t know answers someone on my friends list, my BlackBerry beeps. Not bad for a 68-year old geezer.
You only lose privacy on Facebook if you give it away. You won’t find anything out on my Facebook account I don’t want you to, because nothing I’m not completely comfortable with being public is on there.
And FB is plenty useful. No it can’t replace other forms of contact, it ADDS another. It’s a quick way to keep in touch with people that have spread around in between those phone calls, letters and visits. And the Egyptian revolution dug it.
Google is a good search engine. Stay away from their toolbar, but stay away from EVERYBODY’S toolbar.
Facebook is like anything else. It can be abused.
Facebook, like another poster said, is ANOTHER tool for communication, not the only one.
I have used it to find old friends and keep in touch with people... other people are what life is all about.