A few weeks ago, Facebook wasn’t really on my radar. I knew it was a slightly-less-young version of MySpace, but didn’t think much of it, and didn’t know more than a handful of people using it.

But somehow, it must’ve hit critical mass in the past few weeks, because this has all changed very quickly!

Five reasons Facebook is probably worth paying attention to

• You find out your sister has a new boyfriend through one of her Facebook updates;
• You manage to find your favourite childhood babysitter’s Facebook profile, and turns out she has a 2 year old boy;
• Your teenage cousin who’s made herself scarce at family parties in the past few years decides to actually acknowledge you and write on your Wall;
• You read your two best developer friends’ Twitters and find out they’re both developing their own proof of concept Facebook application;
• Out of nowhere, old acquaintances email you to find out if you’re on Facebook (because then they don’t feel so guilty for not having asked how you were doing for the past few years).

I still feel that Facebook only brings a perceived sense of proximity and closeness, but it’s better than nothing and it’s been a fun ride so far. Fifty-eight friends in just over a week, including some people I haven’t spoken to in years, not bad going!

Once the Friends Reunited generation catches on to Facebook, it’ll most likely go through another huge bout of growth since, as I understand it, there is a cost to be put in contact with friends you’ve found on Friends Reunited. Why pay when there’s a clean, lean alternative like Facebook?