Hi5 and other networks

They seem to be all over the place. One could say the same for blogs I guess but that's a bit different. I don't get emails every other day to join some blog or the other.

So I get an invitation [several actually] recently to join some group or other. This one and that. Would I like to join so and so on the coolest scene there is. It's touching to realise that someone knows I exist, and thought to invite me. I click on the link, with a touch of apprehension. I'm immediately confronted with a registration page. I hate having to register for anything on the web. I completely refuse to register to read newspapers. Not that I actually read news, but anyway. This dislike for the registration process probably goes back to my days in campus, and initial encounters with the Internet. All those XXX sites that promised free access, if only I registered. Let's just say I suffered irreparable damage. Anyway. I don't typically register for stuff and am wary of stuff that's labeled "free". Unless it's open source of course. [I wonder if there's open source porn]

So let's say I do register. Am I meant to give my real world names, address, photo and the like? Is it just me, or am I paranoid. And once you're in, what kind of things does one do. Chat, trade photos? If I joined all those 10 networks I'd have to be taking loads of photos. Probably make lots more friends but I'd have to be spending a lot of time on the web. My excuses are lame as always but if I get an invite and don't oblige, si kwa ubaya.