"Facebook is for friends, past and present. Anyone who wants to be "your friend" should be ignored! "

Exactly! You don't want to use it to make friends, you want to use it to keep in contact with friends (and family) if they're not around.

starling, Lancaster,

As a Business Junction member and a serial networker I was interested to read this article, especially as I was on the boat and didn't meet the author. Just unlucky that day I suppose! ;)

The network that I have built up through Business Junction and other organisations has generated business directly and indirectly. It's provided me with an exceptionally useful 'little black book' which is still expanding and which means I'm a useful information resource for other people. Networking isn't just the 'dead eyed exchange of business cards', smart, savvy networking is the art of connecting with other people. Do men find it easier to exploit superficial relationships? Perhaps, but that's selling, not networking. And networking leads to better sales as most of the hard work is done for you as you're already known, trusted and respected if you network properly. I'd be really interested to read a follow up piece in a year to see what Sathnam and Francesca really got out of it...

Katherine Leopold, London,

BNI can be effective for, say, solicitors & financial advisers, who probably network anyway. My own experience was different. Although I was effective at generating leads for others, all the leads I received were terrible - the fear of not producing leads at BNI meetings led others to pass on anything. As a stress management consultant, this was simply a waste of my time. The final straw came when I ordered a large quantity of publicity material from a fellow member, who simply didn't deliver due to a 'personal crisis', which I later discovered was a relationship issue. I complained to my local branch & sent a much longer letter to the UK BNI HQ. I received no reply.

C Wan, Sheffield,

am not so sure about facebook and identity theft, one thing is for sure
ever since i joined facebook, the junk never stops coming through my mail box..
i left myspace for the same commercialised reasons, except with them, the junk came to my myspace inbox
now it comes to my main email inbox
am over and out with these people, am telling u!!

laureen, leeds,

I would contend that women feel less comfortable networking because they are often on the receiving end of occasional inappropriate behaviour. I can't tell you the number of times, people I was at events with assumed that because I had laughed at their jokes and been friendly, it was OK to ask me out on a date etc... It's just wrong and as a result I feel very wary of some people and reluctant to go to too many events.

V., London,

Rosendo,

Identity theft by definition might not be a crime. But using the details to procure something in a criminal means IS a crime.

This could mean that if you use someone else’s banking details to purchase goods, you are not committing the crime of ‘identity theft’, but a specific offence called ‘obtaining property by deception’ (S1 Theft Act 1978) or if for a service, ‘obtaining goods by deception’ (s15 Theft Act 1968). There are also other similar offences by deception such as obtaining pecuniary/financial advantage, obtaining a money transfer etc etc…

beebee, London,

I am surprised by the comments concerning identity theft. Inspector Dollery of the Kingston Police has stated that "identity theft is not a specific offence".

Can someone legal explain if identity theft is illegal, fraud or a crime or something else. Cifas please comment.

In the 14 Aug article Cifas refers to "identity theft" and fraud at about £1.5 billion. It seems that the police and judges do not consider identity theft wrong. Who is right?

Rosendo Fularon, London,

I lost my identity when i was on facebook. I lost over two thousand pounds and only managed to save my job. People please be careful when you are on this site.

mohsin mirza, colchester, UK

I left facebook because someone started sending me very strange emails and seemed to already know lots about me... I dont trust these sites and have removed my profile from them all, myspace, facebook, linkedin ... game over !

Nick, London, UK

Tristan/Alasdair,

You've both got it spot on with your comments.

Facebook is for friends, past and present. Anyone who wants to be "your friend" should be ignored!

Reg, Manchester,

My address and phone number have been in the Phone Book forever ... so what's all the fuss about Facebook....?

CO , Nottingham, UK

Not only that, if you join a network, unless you rest you privacy settings your Facebook page is open for viewing to anyone who is part of that network. I don't think people realise this.

TLM, London,

Only those stupid enough (or friendless enough) to accept randomers as their friends are open to fraud !

tristan, Auxerre,

Surely if you dont let on your address , a phone number and dob will be Ok. Has all trust gone in this world?

The whole point is so that your circle of friends , old and new, can get hold of you. Not everybody is going to use this sytem in a spiteful way.

Alasdair Cameron, Chulmliegh, UK

I'm on facebook, I advised anyone to ensure that they check their privacy settings, as I thought that I would be safe from people not viewing my profile and pictures unless on my friends list, this was not the case, I only added people I knew but my information was available for all to see, (although it's limited when not on your friend list).. If your information is available ensure it is good friends that can view it, and limit the information to people who you have added that you don't know very well, at least by doing this they will be on your friends list but not able to see DOB's or phone numbers for example... Just remember to take care with your personal information!!

Adam Webb, MK, UK

You state halfway through the article that Facebook has 30m users and your last line mentions 52m???

Caomhin, Dublin,