A year ago I quit Facebook. I didn't like the <a href="http://davidhewson.com/2010/04/were-back-to-the-privacy-thing-again-and-its-not-good/">privacy issues</a>. I didn't like the big chunk it was taking out of my time. And frankly I didn't like the way I was expected to 'friend' everyone who happened upon me. Most of the people I dealt with on FB were lovely. A few were tedious, always wanting something, advice, free books, blurbs for their self-published books. And a handful were out and out nutters.

Do I miss FB? A bit. I had some good, real friends on there, people who used it to keep in touch in a way that never seemed to happen through email and Twitter (yes, Linwood, I am thinking of you). And then there's just the professional thing. Writers these days seem to be expected to have an internet presence that goes beyond just a web site. If they don't tweet or appear on FB too they are, in some quarters, viewed to be either moribund or dead.

Does this bother me?

<!--more-->Not a lot frankly. Maybe it's age but I find myself wanting to spend more time writing and less on 'the business'. This is, I realise, the exact opposite of current fashionable authorial thinking in which we are supposed to regard ourselves as 'owners of our brand'. Sod that for a lark.

Writing's hard and time-consuming. The annual cycle of events and conventions are usually enjoyable -- note that word 'usually' -- but they can also be very exhausting, even more so than constantly dealing with people you don't know on Facebook. Does all this constant activity sell books? Don't know frankly. But I do know that you can't be both writing personal messages to complete strangers, or addressing distant literary conventions, and writing full time simultaneously. And given the choice between the two... it's not really a choice at all.

So the question I ought to face up to, one year on from quitting FB, is this: is there a way to have my cake and eat it? Can I be on FB and let people into my little world there while keeping some kind of distance? Yes, I know there are fan pages and things that can be set up (I think there's one of those already actually).

But the truth is this: if I did go back on I couldn't go back to devoting a chunk of each day to 'interacting' with people. And I certainly don't intend to waste a bunch of time turning down invitations to play Farmville or whatever they do today.

Is it possible to use FB as a mirror of Twitter so your status messages on that turn into your status messages there? I'm sure there is, but if you do nothing but that is it enough? Or will people think you're ignoring them on FB?

And the big question. Can I be on FB and strictly stick to 'friending' (God I hate that word) only people I actually know? Turning down genuine, sincere and honest readers and fans into the bargain? Will my presence there, visible but 'shunning' strangers as friends, hack off more people than simply being absent completely?

My gut feelings is... yes it would. But if any of you have opinions I'd love to hear them.