There's an ancient adage in the computer industry - it may have originated at Microsoft - which says: 'Always eat your own dog food'. What it means is that if you are writing software other people are going to use, then you must use it yourself. If you're going to ask other people to commit their time, data and perhaps even sanity to using your product, you should take the same risks yourself.
An analogous injunction ought to apply to technology commentators: do not write about something unless you've used it yourself. It was in this spirit that I signed up to Facebook, the social networking service, some time ago. As it happens, I seem to have signed up just at the moment that Facebook reached its tipping point and switched into a phase of exponential growth. It's been fascinating watching from the inside as more and more of my colleagues and acquaintances sign up and confide their innermost thoughts to a few thousand close 'friends'.
Full story: guardian.co.uk
