Before we start, please vote now. OK, now that that’s done… Bryan Person reached out to me to ask if I would like to be a member of a panel he was organizing and I threw my hat in for a number of reasons, foremost of which is that I am still a SXSW virgin, never having, as-of-yet, made my Interactive pilgrimage. Secondly, I love sharing what I know. Thirdly, I have quite a lot of very strong opinions about Facebook, ageism, and social networks.  Here’s the recent post by Bryan, My proposed SXSW 2010 panel: ‘My Mom Just Joined Facebook–Now What?’

Pimping for votes isn’t exactly my style.

But when it comes to getting a proposed SXSW Interactive 2010 panel through to the next round of consideration in a very crowded field–there are more than 2,000 potential panels (gulp) up for votes–I don’t know that I have any other choice.

And so it is that I shamelessly ask you to consider casting a “thumbs-up” vote this entry: “My Mom Just Joined Facebook–Now What?” Here’s the abstract:

Social networking sites like Facebook are changing our conversational relationships. The lines we once drew between our separate social groups–family members, friends, workmates, etc.–have been obliterated online. Now, your drinking buddies, old boss, and mother all see the very same status update. Disconcerting…or the new normal?

So who’s on the panel?

I’ve tried to assemble a well-rounded, thoughtful foursome to join me for the discussion (I’ll be sitting in the moderator’s chair).

• Marshall Kirkpatrick, VP and lead blogger at ReadWriteWeb. Marshall delivers the best Facebook coverage of any tech writer that I follow, including posts on user privacy options.
• Dan York is a technologist and director of conversations at Voxeo. It was Dan’s audio commentaries for the FIR podcast earlier this year that actually helped crystallize my thoughts around “The Facebook Effect.”
• Chris Abraham is president and COO of Abraham Harrison LLC. He first caught my attention with a clever campaign targeting the Power Age 150 bloggers.
• Annie Boccio, a web-presence designer and consultant at PixelCurrents.com. Annie rightly called me out for only having dudes on the panel (though she was very nice about it!). Annie’s in the middle of a research project on Facebook, so she’s the perfect choice to round out our group.

Just two more things: 1) Public voting makes up 30% of the decision-making process according to SXSW, so your selections do matter. 2) The public vote closes this Friday, September 4.

Here’s where you can cast your vote: “My Mom Just Joined Facebook–Now What?”

Thanks.