The Facebook frenzy has taken hold and I love it! My alarm clock goes off at 5:45am, signaling the start of another school day. But before I can start my day, I reach for the BlackBerry to read the status updates. I know exactly where I can stop scrolling/reading - at the last update I read last nite before I fell asleep. Check my notifications, comment where applicable, and I'm ready to swing my legs out of bed and rouse Dot from her slumber.
I live for and through my friends' status updates (and pictures, wall posts, videos, links, etc). I feel closer to people than I ever did 'in person' because I know them more. I can read them. Not just their updates but them! I can learn a lot about a person by how they write and what they write. It's almost like reading their journals (with their permission, of course).
My personal Facebook philosophy is such that I friend only those people whom I am interested in stalking. And let's be very clear about something... if you are my FB friend, I am stalking you (in a non-threatening way). Don't pretend you don't like it. I know you do. I do, too. You... we... are perfectly normal. There's a little voyeur in all of us. Which is one of the reasons FB is so popular, in my (unprofessional) opinion. We want our friends to know us without having to say, "Yo! I want you to know me!" And this is why the FB Status Update has gone viral.
At dinner, tonite, my brother-in-law noted that he didn't have the usual catch-up questions and conversation starters because he already knew from my daily updates how the family is doing, how work is going, and even how the weather has been. But this wasn't necessarily a bad thing. We did not all sit at the restaurant in silence and awkwardly stare at each other. In fact, the updates became the conversation kindling! I suspect this is the case for many people.
"Did you read Lou's update about..."
"Oh my GOD! YES! Did you see what Jane commented???"
"No! I had to
And before you know it, you're talking about topics that actually have your undivided attention rather than mundane commentary about the freakish snowfall, wishing Spring would spring, and blah, blah, blah.
Once, a friend posted that she was waiting at the doctor's office. One of her friends asked if she was pregnant. BAM! VIRUS LAUNCHED! Not a menacing computer trojan virus. I'm talking about the update/comment virus! Before she could get back to her Facebook page and catch up, friends were swarming all over the possible pregnancy. Congratulatory comments were flying. Comments of surprise flooded the thread. Her own family was wondering what the hell was going on in that girl's uterus! And when she did (finally) sign on, she saw the wildfire that she had to put out. No, she wasn't pregnant. She was at the pediatrician with her child, waiting to see the doc. Nothing more.
Our Facebook words do not get lost in the ether of space. Not long ago (today), I updated (ranted) about the Face Book Fan Page phenomenon. I wondered (in writing) what their purpose was, how many fans justify a page, and (most importantly) why didn't I have any fans? In response, a friend created a fan page for me. It was a joke, but it was so awesome! My friends hopped on the fanwagon and posted on the wall and I felt like a celebrity for a few hours! Soon, however, I realized fan pages do have a purpose for businesses or (real) celebrities with zillions of actual fans. While I like to pretend I'm a celebrity, the reality is I don't really have a need for a legitimate fan page. And my 'fans' were already my FB friends with whom I maintain a 2-way dialogue. I could never handle having fans. I want to have friends. So we deleted the page and I got over myself.
My point is that people are reading what we write, they do care, and our Facebook pages are being taken at face value. Some have complained (myself included) that FB is a time-waster. But the more I think about it, the more I feel like it's not a waste of time at all. It makes us feel good, cheers us up when we need it, makes us laugh, and most importantly... it keeps us connected.
Do you consider these things time-wasters?
-B(Sting)
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