Perhaps I'm getting old

I "get" LinkedIn, which helps real, live professionals connect... but I just don't understand the fascination the press has or the appeal users have with "social media" sites like Facebook, MySpace, Bebo, Orkut, Friendster, and Twitter. As a business model, while the sites have millions of users, most lack the fundamental criteria for success: a path to profitability. As a user, why do I want complete strangers... or my boss to know what I'm up to in my personal life? To me (and some others) the negatives greatly outweigh the positives.

If I want to correspond with friends and family, I either pick up the phone or send an email. And of course when I'm in the same town, I actually visit and have real, live, face-to-face social encounters. I have enough friends, really. I'm not looking to make virtual ones.