Back on April 1st, I decided to "unfriend" Facebook friends of mine who didn't use their real names or include a photo of themselves with their profiles.

One of my Facebook friends I unfriended (only in the world of Facebook) was Greg Swan, who happened to notice over the weekend that I've refriended him.

Did Greg change? No. I did. I'm a Facebook flip-flopper.

What's changed is how I use Facebook. I've come to realize that the two primary functions of Facebook that I find valuable are: 1. being able to communicate to other people, and 2. using the invitation system. In both cases, how others present themselves has little bearing on how I'm using the service.

By the way, I said "being able to communicate to other people" rather than "with" other people. My "with" conversations have not moved into Facebook. They still take place over email, IM, Twitter, and now occasionally Friendfeed. I don't foresee moving conversations other than an occasional short note like a birthday wish into Facebook. The interface is too clunky, I can't export my own thoughts, and they're locked behind Facebook's wall.

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