At first, I resisted creating a Facebook account.
I blog, I surf; basically I already spent way too much time on the Internet. I did not need another time sapping activity.
Then my husband signed on. Fine, I will check his account every now and then.
Then, I noticed that FB was becoming a way to contact people. The land line, curly cord telephone was so 1980's. Cell phone, so 1990's. Email, Y2K.
Facebook was the new way to contact people, and not just the cute guy who sat across you in high school physics, or your camp bunk-mate from middle school.
So, I signed on.
Next question, who is my friend? Do I accept, or request, everyone? Everyone who I have ever talked to, or seen down the street, the cute guy from physics, the camp bunk-mate I haven't seen since that summer?
Just because we lived in the same town 20 years ago, does that mean we are to be FB friends?
And who is appropriate to have as a friend? The teenage girl down the street? A friend's son? An ex? The cute guy from physics?
***Before rumors are started, there was no cute guy in physics. In fact I don't remember who was in my physics class, let alone what I learned. Though, I do remember our teacher's hair looked like a bird's nest.
Does it matter? (who your friend is, not that I don't remember anything from physics.)
It has been fun catching up with those I knew in high school and college.
I've also learned things about people I would prefer not knowing.
Then there is the downside of Internet communication. A lot is lost, and added, to typed words, virtually transmitted across screens.
It has become a convenient way to pass along information.
It has also become a time sapper.
Do you have a Facebook account? Do you check it weekly, daily, hourly? Do you update your status? There is good and bad sides to all this technology, what do you think?
2 comments:
I love/hate facebook...At first I loved it, the novelty, ahh a beautiful thing! Then I had some bad experiences, let's just say some people still think they're in high school despite the fact that they're at least 20 years removed!
I do enjoy looking at people's pictures and sharing my own. Now I update maybe twice a week, as compared to the daily update I used to do! I do take "breaks" from fb from time to time, a very good thing. I highly recommend that!
What a thoughtful post. It is true that facebook has a good and bad side. It has created "virtual" relationships, where you no longer have to see anyone face to face, but everyone just catches up on whatever they see on facebook. Months can go by without seeing friends, but they are still up to date on the happenings because they have seen it on facebook. What will relationships look like in 20 years? What will communication look like? I have tried to cut back on my time on facebook. I too blog, which can easily take up LOTS of time. But i would prefer to be intentional about face to face time rather than facebook time.
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