In defense of Facebook

Frankly, I don't live there, but I do hit FB once or twice a day. I went to
stay in touch with one HS friend who prefers it to emails. I have since
reconnected with a bunch of HS friends and that has been fun. I've even gone
to see one of them play in their 70's cover band. (which was very nearly
post worthy just for the strangeness of the evening.) I never would have
gone with out FB.

I found a long lost hockey friend - her son played with DD but she shut down
totally when he got cancer and lost touch with everyone outside her family.
(He's fine now I'm happy to say and she is getting better. She had been so
fragile when I saw her in a store about 4 years ago when he had his first
remission.)

DH has found a family connection he didn't know about and is now getting to
fill in a piece of the family tree he wouldn't have been able to otherwise
due to a name change. And found a cousin (many times removed) that remembers
his dad as a young man. DS stays in touch with his cousins. I get to learn
about Brat's success with her dogs.

And there are past and current members of this list there. One lost her
newsgroup access and didn't opt to use one of the other methods to read
this. Others use it as safe way to talk privately. Or just talk with a
larger group with out being on a open public forum (like this).

Is a lot of it moaning about the weather? Sure, especially those of us in NE
where we haven't seen the sun for more than a few hours in weeks. And there
is lots trivia like grocery store trips and such. But why does it bother you
so? The shallow and the deep have always been with us. Haven't you ready the
Diaries of Samuel Pepys? Talk about minutia for public consumption.
(http://www.pepysdiary.com/) He's no Thoreau, but both have their place in
the greater world.


Cheryl

I'm with Cheryl here. I have reconnected with old HS friends and my
closest friends from college. I come from an age (Cheryl too) where
we left school or wherever and went out on our own. Letter writing
had fallen out of vogue and long distrance cost money, so we tended to
lose touch. This is giving us a chance to find each other - and it's
better (and cheaper!) than Classmates.com. My small, private liberal
arts college has even given up its alumni stuff on its home page and
instead is reaching us through FB. (We still get newsletters, etc.)

Some of it IS very silly. But it's a good break in the day and fun.
Sometimes, you learn something surprising about someone. Like Cheryl,
I keep up with a few people from here as well as my friends. There's
another RCTN member (mostly a lurker) who is going through some of the
same things I am and we cheer each other on. I know about Kurt's
driving test and Brat's dogs. My friend Kathy has turned into a real
foodie. Several of my college friends have very young children - the
women are in their 40s and the kids are under 5 - and those of us with
older kids offer advice when asked. One of my HS friends remembers
more about what we did together than I do - apparently I drove him
everywhere!

I'm sorry Tia Mary is having problems. I wish I could solve them -
but no program is perfect.

Yes, it is minutiae - but so is some of the stuff we talk about here.
But FB has reconnected me with a very important person, reminded me of
who I was and how far I've come, and for that I am grateful.

linda

On 6/24/09 8:09 AM, "Cheryl Isaak" wrote:

Frankly, I don't live there, but I do hit FB once or twice a day. I went to
stay in touch with one HS friend who prefers it to emails. I have since
reconnected with a bunch of HS friends and that has been fun. I've even gone
to see one of them play in their 70's cover band. (which was very nearly
post worthy just for the strangeness of the evening.) I never would have
gone with out FB.


There absolutely is a place for FB and other social networking, as well as
"professional" networking sites. I think the issue, at least my
perspective, is the pervasiveness of this to the point of overwhelming
actual personal contact and communication skills. Manners - in public, on
public forums, electronic, in "real-life" , socially and professionally -
have taken an enormous hit. The saying "discretion is the better part of
valor" seems to have no meaning for people consumed with this need to be
"in-touch" all the time. What is the norm for acceptable anymore? While
surely one can have a FB page with minimal info, but allow you to be
reached, etc - the overwhelming majority goes the other way.

I found a long lost hockey friend - her son played with DD but she shut down
totally when he got cancer and lost touch with everyone outside her family.
(He's fine now I'm happy to say and she is getting better. She had been so
fragile when I saw her in a store about 4 years ago when he had his first
remission.)

DH has found a family connection he didn't know about and is now getting to
fill in a piece of the family tree he wouldn't have been able to otherwise
due to a name change. And found a cousin (many times removed) that remembers
his dad as a young man. DS stays in touch with his cousins. I get to learn
about Brat's success with her dogs.

And there are past and current members of this list there. One lost her
newsgroup access and didn't opt to use one of the other methods to read
this. Others use it as safe way to talk privately. Or just talk with a
larger group with out being on a open public forum (like this).

Is a lot of it moaning about the weather? Sure, especially those of us in NE
where we haven't seen the sun for more than a few hours in weeks. And there
is lots trivia like grocery store trips and such. But why does it bother you
so? The shallow and the deep have always been with us. Haven't you ready the
Diaries of Samuel Pepys? Talk about minutia for public consumption.
(http://www.pepysdiary.com/) He's no Thoreau, but both have their place in
the greater world.


Cheryl

Like anything else, you can use a tool as you see fit, and suits your need.
However, with the FB phenomena, it seems the peer pressure is to join up,
and put yourself out there. So, how addictive does this become - and how
does that affect the individual in terms of what else they're doing, let
alone productivity in the work sense?

Ellice

"ellice" wrote in message
...
On 6/24/09 8:09 AM, "Cheryl Isaak" wrote:

Frankly, I don't live there, but I do hit FB once or twice a day. I went
to
stay in touch with one HS friend who prefers it to emails. I have since
reconnected with a bunch of HS friends and that has been fun. I've even
gone
to see one of them play in their 70's cover band. (which was very nearly
post worthy just for the strangeness of the evening.) I never would have
gone with out FB.


There absolutely is a place for FB and other social networking, as well as
"professional" networking sites. I think the issue, at least my
perspective, is the pervasiveness of this to the point of overwhelming
actual personal contact and communication skills. Manners - in public, on
public forums, electronic, in "real-life" , socially and professionally -
have taken an enormous hit. The saying "discretion is the better part of
valor" seems to have no meaning for people consumed with this need to be
"in-touch" all the time. What is the norm for acceptable anymore? While
surely one can have a FB page with minimal info, but allow you to be
reached, etc - the overwhelming majority goes the other way.

I found a long lost hockey friend - her son played with DD but she shut
down
totally when he got cancer and lost touch with everyone outside her
family.
(He's fine now I'm happy to say and she is getting better. She had been
so
fragile when I saw her in a store about 4 years ago when he had his first
remission.)

DH has found a family connection he didn't know about and is now getting
to
fill in a piece of the family tree he wouldn't have been able to
otherwise
due to a name change. And found a cousin (many times removed) that
remembers
his dad as a young man. DS stays in touch with his cousins. I get to
learn
about Brat's success with her dogs.

And there are past and current members of this list there. One lost her
newsgroup access and didn't opt to use one of the other methods to read
this. Others use it as safe way to talk privately. Or just talk with a
larger group with out being on a open public forum (like this).

Is a lot of it moaning about the weather? Sure, especially those of us in
NE
where we haven't seen the sun for more than a few hours in weeks. And
there
is lots trivia like grocery store trips and such. But why does it bother
you
so? The shallow and the deep have always been with us. Haven't you ready
the
Diaries of Samuel Pepys? Talk about minutia for public consumption.
(http://www.pepysdiary.com/) He's no Thoreau, but both have their place
in
the greater world.


Cheryl

Like anything else, you can use a tool as you see fit, and suits your
need.
However, with the FB phenomena, it seems the peer pressure is to join up,
and put yourself out there. So, how addictive does this become - and how
does that affect the individual in terms of what else they're doing, let
alone productivity in the work sense?

Ellice

As I said - superficial - but obviously you can either take it or leave it!
It doesn`t really float my boat, but that`s not to say I criticise those who
like it, any more than I would castigate anyone who does not like chocolate!
(It`s just a matter of choice - think Mayo versus salad cream!)

It seems to me that I hear far more about Twitter these days, in any case.
I`m not too enamoured by that either. but then I`m allowed to be a miserable
old sod ;-)

Pat

Twitter - I have to agree with you. The president of my HS class is a
twitter junkie. I could live without his ten or twelve a day updates
- "Having coffee at the coffeeshop!" "Off to the meeting!" All with
an exclamation point!

linda

wrote in message
...
Twitter - I have to agree with you. The president of my HS class is a
twitter junkie. I could live without his ten or twelve a day updates
- "Having coffee at the coffeeshop!" "Off to the meeting!" All with
an exclamation point!

linda

I've seen that on Face Book as well except with a few more words.

On 6/24/09 12:39 PM, in article ,
"Lucille" wrote:


wrote in message
...
Twitter - I have to agree with you. The president of my HS class is a
twitter junkie. I could live without his ten or twelve a day updates
- "Having coffee at the coffeeshop!" "Off to the meeting!" All with
an exclamation point!

linda

I've seen that on Face Book as well except with a few more words.



Oh, I know. I've changed who's updates I see automatically. I thought I was
going to scream every time J made it a new level in some game she was
playing. And that was 4-5 in fifteen minutes

"Cheryl Isaak" wrote in message
...
On 6/24/09 12:39 PM, in article ,
"Lucille" wrote:


wrote in message
...
Twitter - I have to agree with you. The president of my HS class is a
twitter junkie. I could live without his ten or twelve a day updates
- "Having coffee at the coffeeshop!" "Off to the meeting!" All with
an exclamation point!

linda

I've seen that on Face Book as well except with a few more words.



Oh, I know. I've changed who's updates I see automatically. I thought I
was
going to scream every time J made it a new level in some game she was
playing. And that was 4-5 in fifteen minutes


Hopefully you don't mean me?! FB is not supposed to be publishing those--I
deliberately choose "skip"!

Jinx

On 6/24/09 5:46 PM, in article ,
"Jinx Minx" wrote:


"Cheryl Isaak" wrote in message
...
On 6/24/09 12:39 PM, in article ,
"Lucille" wrote:


wrote in message
...
Twitter - I have to agree with you. The president of my HS class is a
twitter junkie. I could live without his ten or twelve a day updates
- "Having coffee at the coffeeshop!" "Off to the meeting!" All with
an exclamation point!

linda

I've seen that on Face Book as well except with a few more words.



Oh, I know. I've changed who's updates I see automatically. I thought I
was
going to scream every time J made it a new level in some game she was
playing. And that was 4-5 in fifteen minutes


Hopefully you don't mean me?! FB is not supposed to be publishing those--I
deliberately choose "skip"!

Jinx


Heck no! You log off, I swear this person is on 24/7 and half her updates
are from her husband

"Cheryl Isaak" wrote in message
...
On 6/24/09 5:46 PM, in article ,
"Jinx Minx" wrote:


"Cheryl Isaak" wrote in message
...
On 6/24/09 12:39 PM, in article ,
"Lucille" wrote:


wrote in message
...
Twitter - I have to agree with you. The president of my HS class is a
twitter junkie. I could live without his ten or twelve a day updates
- "Having coffee at the coffeeshop!" "Off to the meeting!" All with
an exclamation point!

linda

I've seen that on Face Book as well except with a few more words.



Oh, I know. I've changed who's updates I see automatically. I thought I
was
going to scream every time J made it a new level in some game she was
playing. And that was 4-5 in fifteen minutes


Hopefully you don't mean me?! FB is not supposed to be publishing
those--I
deliberately choose "skip"!

Jinx


Heck no! You log off, I swear this person is on 24/7 and half her updates
are from her husband


Phew! It sounded just like me, and my stage name starts with J! A couple
friends of mine and I like to challenge each other with high scores in
Bejeweled. Each round only lasts 60 seconds, so it updates frequently.
When I need a few minutes of mindlessness during the day that's my
brainkiller of choice. And I usually just keep FB open in a separate
browser all day (although minimized), so it probably looks like that's all I
do all day long, too. LOL

So if it's me, I apologize!
Jinx