Well, I have to admit it, I am one with the Facebook nation, who reportedly, number in the millions. And on Facebook I have reconnected with some old friends, avoided others and sought still more.
In my Facebook world the "25 Things About Me" list has been circulating. This is an invitation to list 25 things about yourself, and you choose what they are. Following close behind are other lists with specific questions to answer, I don't do those. What I like about the "25" is that I choose to share what I want, no right or wrong. I can inflate my ego and tell of my great deeds, or I can talk all about how others are so important to me. I can thank God or curse Him, my choice.
I have some very creative friends, one did the list and said it was best when sung to the tune "Turkey in the Straw" which I'm sure everyone under the age of 25 knows by heart (ha!). It was cool. My own list was mostly revealing one liners "#3 I hate black olives", like that, short straight to the point and very very character revealing. Some friends were able (including Turkey in the Straw person) to write their life story in a 25 point biography, I was impressed. Like all things that go around the cyber world, "25" has become bit of a pest, and thus has spawned critics of not only the list but of Facebook. Someone sent me a list of "25 Things about Facebook" mostly humorous comments, that in a veiled way made users of Facebook seem naive and perhaps way too needy of something, although what was never made clear.
I responded and as I did, I came up with this thought about what Facebook is. I have described it to some as "community" or "place to reconnect", but tonight I thought of a different analogy: Front Porch.
In a nostalgic scene from a 1940's or 50's world where after supper people would walk through their neighborhood or down the road they might see a neighbor sitting on the front porch smoking, or drinking lemonade or just sitting, it was almost required to stop and visit, catch up on the news, gossip and remember events past. To me at the moment, that is Facebook.
I personally don't look at it more than once or twice a day, but in those moments I can catch up on what people are up to. I get new jokes, I learn little tidbits. "25" that my friends sent out let me into a more personal world, one that in this run, run, run, busy, busy, busy world, we don't have much time to explore. It's fun, and with common sense it's safe, and you can find out secrets about people. The list about Facebook said that someday someone will post high school pictures of you on Facebook, and what big hair you had. This has already happened, pictures from high school of our younger son, Brent, surfaced. It had all his group of friends he hung around with, including Karen (we didn't know it then) our future daughter-in-law. This was nostalgic and brought back fond parental memories. When I mentioned it to them, Karen said that she wasn't happy about that, and warned her friend "I have pictures too!" That too is part of Facebook, what goes around comes around, so be careful out there.
All in all Facebook will probably burn itself out , but for now if you want to stop and visit on my front porch, feel free.
Peace
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