For all my facebook love, I'm ready for it to stop being such a skanky kid. I know that it's just people writing these facebook apps, but when I get an invitation to an application involving "meet(ing) new people", I don't really want to get cheesy flirt messages from some web addicted kid who's all "bair-chicka-bair-bair". Good gawd.

I've been told that the average age of a facebook user is 34 (or something like that). But the apps that are written aren't for us (I'm going to include myself as "us"...K?). If I want to meet someone, it's not because of their picture, it's because I want to network with them (well, most of the time). So where's the application for that? Where's the thing that lets you build out a professional network; people you know remotely, or want to get to know for work-purposes, but definitely don't want to have hit on you ever? That's not the same thing as "friends". Though I do get a chuckle out of what passes for friendship these days, like online.

I'm still struggling a bit with the cross-over between life and work. Because I have a job that involves having a public persona (not sure how to better put that), and that lives on the blog and on facebook and other places, do I have to be more careful about showing who I am online (she says in her Carrie Bradshaw voice)? One of my friends made me think about this recently when she joked about watching what she says in front of me so it wouldn't end up on the blog. I know she was joking because I am super diligent about protecting the privacy of my friends and what they say. But frankly, I think that makes my blog a little boring. And some really funny stuff happens to me that I don't put on here because "someone" might take offense. Half the time, the version of me here is pretty much the same version I bring out around my parents' friends. Heather Lite.

I haven't decided whether it's the concept of authenticity that is making me have a problem with all of this. I think that's the better part of it. Also, that I struggle for relevant content sometimes. And I personally find myself a little boring these days. Perhaps it is time to bring back the snarky Apprentice recaps. That might help. Four years into the blog thing and I am struggling with this. I'm still not in fear of being fired for anything I do here but I see the down side of sharing more personal info here. And I'm feeling a little two dimensional. I wonder of Flat Stanley runs into problems like these.

Heather Hamilton
Staffing Manager
Strategic Talent Acquisition, Community and Research
Microsoft Corporation