One thing I’ve noticed about folks on facebook is that many seem to understand the dangers of having certain information searchable for employers. And, for the most part it seems, people with white collar jobs where that sort of thing tends to matter more are a little less public with sharing things that might get them fired. Although, it must be stated, that most people still aren’t making full use of their privacy settings.

But the other side to facebook “danger” is the use of information: traced clicks, having your information sold, or, my personal favorite, facebook smacking one of your profile pics beside some ad for a company that you know nothing about. Those are the things that only savvy heavy internet users tend to pay attention to and care about. The proof of that is in the fact that no matter how much tech and personal privacy sites put out about facebook-or how much advocacy groups sue the site–people are still using it and sites are still asking you to use facebook to connect. Not too long ago, facebook was tracking users’ activity AFTER they’d logged off. That story barely was a blip on the radar.

For a long time I refused to ever connect facebook to anything. It was the principle of the thing. But now I’ve succumbed. Why? cause it’s soooo much easier than plugging in a user names and password. And for someone who has a blog where they need to comment on other sites more often, facebook makes the whole thing easier. I’ve actually decided that when my sports blog is redesigned, I’m going to move all comments on the facebook page a la Grantland.

A few readers have already complained about this. My response: I’m sorry..perhaps you should get a dummy account.

I know they think I’m being a little arrogant suggesting that they create a faux facebook account just to comment on my blog, but my advice is really less about my blog and more about using the internet to your advantage. Something I think we all should be looking to do.

Facebook is largely in control and now the only thing we can do in rebellion is to get more out of the site than it gets out of us. There’s no rule saying you can’t have a facebook page with a dumb photo, a fake location, and no status updates. Hell, a lot of people do that for their regular accounts. A dummy account is a convenient way to leverage the partnership that facebook has with some of your favorite sites while still retaining control over the information you post–or in this case the information you don’t.

For many folks facebook is a way to connect with former classmates and colleagues and others that you are interested in enough to know what’s going on in their lives but not entertained by enough to follow on twitter–assuming they even tweet. Secondarily, facebook is a photo storage and sharing site. And it’s really hard to beat. But I see facebook’s primary role being altered to a middle man between you and the rest of the web. And opening your private data to a middle man rarely works out well, ask anyone who’s been taken down in a ponzi scheme.

I’m happy with my decision to use a facebook dummy account. And honestly it’s not all that dummy—my real location and alma mater is on there. I also have ONE profile photo. If anyone tags me in a photo, I disconnect the tag. I’m not opposed to unfriending the person either. I don’t have a “regular” account because facebook just isn’t “for me” anymore. I’m connected in so many other ways.

So…I’m wondering, am I the only one thinking dummy accounts should rise in popularity?