Sunday, March 20, 2011

Facebook and the Empty Nest

I love Facebook.  No, I mean it...I really love Facebook.

Initially, I joined Facebook to keep up with my son at college.  And I still use it to keep up with my kids and what they're doing.  Admittedly, sometimes I see posts I really wish I hadn't...but at least I know they're not afraid to tell the truth knowing I'm going to see it.  I've become "friends" with some of their friends and I enjoy seeing their interaction.  It's worth the occasional heart attack to know they are alive and well and posting.

But when my son first set up my account (yes, I had to have help!), little did I know what it would evolve to be.  Since that first week when my only friends were my son and some of his friends, I've connected with friends all the way back to grade school.  There are friends on my list from my time in the Air Force, high school, every job I think I've ever had and a ton of cousins and other family.  As I grew up in Wisconsin and now live in Texas...it is wonderful to have a link to back home.

I play games on Facebook and enter sweepstakes.  Sometimes I actually win a little thing or two!!  I've made new friends through playing games spread all over the country.  I have Air Force friends literally spread from Washington State to Maine to Florida to California and states in between.  I get to read differing political opinions and what my friends made for dinner.  I see pictures of friends, family, and multiple generations.  I learn what is important to my friends, how we are different, and how much actually we all have in common.

I have to admit, there is a downside.  I've become a bit lazy (ok...a lot!!) about picking up the phone and actually speaking to people.  It's just so easy to throw what I'm thinking in a status update and let it go at that. I'm trying to do better but it's a work in progress!

I wonder if my son knew what a monster he was creating...and does he regret it sometimes?

3 comments:

  1. I sometimes feel it's efficient. Yeah, I know, that seems counterintuitive. But think of it this way, one status update = (potentially) dozens of phone calls! ;o)

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  2. Everyone needs to have a connection of some kind in their lives and I think Facebook provides that but I also think it kind of warps it as well. I worry that society is losing its ability to cope with itself as people are less and less socially interactive in the real world.

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  3. Started using FB to stay in contact with 5 sister and brothers and in-laws, and chilfdren and the 38 nieces and nephews and now great nieces and nephews scattered all over the globe, some I havent seen or talked to in yeArs. It has allowed us the space to reconnect without all silent pauses that sometimes happen with a phone call. So now we talk on the phone, send letters and pics, thanks to FB!

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