Facebook is like signing someone's yearbook...
over and over and over. ~Jeannie Gaffigan
over and over and over. ~Jeannie Gaffigan
This is true and funny. But then again, I happened to enjoy signing yearbooks back in the day. I enjoyed the whole concept of yearbooks so much in fact, I helped edit mine in high school.
My mom started me out on this signing thing early in life when she gave me my first autograph dog. For those of you too young to remember autograph dogs, that's why they invented Google.
I'm currently waiting on news by the minute about two people I care about very much, who are in hospitals. Only others directly affected by both situations can truly understand what this is like. Reading updates and messages on Facebook has been such a comfort to me; I can only imagine the strength it must be giving to the families of these two.
One thing in particular that warms my heart as I read the comments on their pages is when I come across one posted by a grandparent. More power to those over 60 who use Facebook fearlessly to stay in touch and send blessings.
So before you dismiss Facebook as a "stupid, obnoxious thing" please keep an open mind about its usefulness in these kinds of situations.
Two friends were telling me yesterday at lunch about a Facebook group that was providing them with some surprising and much needed insight into their collective childhood experiences growing up in their small town. People in the group were posting some things that obviously needed to be said, and some healing was happening.
This use of Facebook is obviously one that couldn't have been anticipated by those kids who came up with the concept that night in their dorm room at Harvard.
When I was teaching, a seminar leader once told a group of us we were preparing our students "for future jobs that don't even exist today." I never forgot that. And now here I am, in one of those jobs that didn't exist then: social media. I like that.
I'm not naive, and I know there are many ways Facebook can be and is harmful, just like any new habit or outlet for self-expression can be. But at this moment, I'm looking at the plus side.
Since I do Facebook pages for some companies as my job -- I'm on it a lot. Some of my Facebook friends must wonder if that's all I do. It takes discipline to dole out the amount of time you spend there when it's your job to crawl over pages, link, share, post and answer comments. It took me awhile to find the balance and figure it out.
I know some people in my Facebook friends group probably think I post too many pictures, or that posting pictures is a way of showing off. Or that I post too much, period.
The good news for them is they get to unfriend me, as some have done.
It's a bit odd to know more about someone you sat next to at lunch in junior high 30 years ago versus a person you see in the restroom at work every day -- but such is social media.
When I first joined Facebook, I sometimes had dreams about people I hadn't seen for decades mixing it up with people I met the day before. Strangely entertaining. But also a signal that maybe I needed to cut back a little on the Facebook stalking.
I enjoy how it changes every day; this keeps me interested. And I also like that it can be whatever you want it to be. You can read just what you want, when you want.
And of course as a writer, I love the opportunity to do that ALL over the place.
Facebook has connected me with some new people I have more in common with than people I've known all my life. You find this out quickly on Facebook; it allows people to reveal their personalities in so many ways. You quickly learn who likes the same art you do, the same music, the same movies, the same politics, the same silliness.
Um, for better or for worse, I might add. Enter the "hide" button.
It's a community that's changed the way we think of community. And that's a good thing, right?
Who knows what Facebook will be tomorrow? I for one, am interested to find out.
Don't even get me started about Twitter.
