Facebook Refuseniks Still Sorta Use It

The Washington Post today profiles an increasingly rare breed: people in their 20s and 30s who don't use Facebook or other such sites. And though the “refuseniks” interviewed have different rationales—privacy, “morals and beliefs,” being “old-school in the personal touch way,” many share something in common that speaks to the pervasiveness of social networking: They use Facebook by proxy.

“All my friends from high school have also met my wife, and they're friends with her; my wife 'friended' them or whatever it's called,” one non-user says. His wife has a word for that: “I am his Facebook secretary.” And at least one holdout, in the habit of having linked-in buddies send his ex-girlfriend messages, knows his position is untenable. “Eventually I'm going to have to do it,” he says. “It will make stuff much smoother.” (More Facebook stories.)