My Fling With Facebook

For years, the kids have urged me to use Facebook. I was really not interested because I'm not single and it seemed like an infringement on my privacy that could only spell trouble in some way.I certainly was not interested in posting a gazillion photos of myself for all the world to see!
 
I did become an active Twitter prescriber because the format seemed to better fit my personality and lifestyle. With Twitter, I could be anonymous and satisfy all my cravings as an information junkie. I could even throw in my two cents once in a while as long as it was in 140 characters or less. And, if I was really smart or lucky, maybe I could get a retweet!

But, over time, I began to notice something. Friends and co-workers would often look up from their phones and giggle to each other or laugh about something someone had just shared. I began to feel left out, like a wallflower at a party, not included in the loop! 

So, recently, I gathered up the courage to check out what this Facebook thing was all about, not caring about the fact that my kids have since moved on to Instagram and Snapchat, dismissing Facebook as passe'. At first, I felt like I was cheating on my old, reliable Twitter, like a husband stepping out on his sensible wife to have a fling with some cheap floozy.

But, I think I'm beginning to realize what the attraction of Facebook is. It is undeniable proof that the philosophers are right when they say we are all connected in the universe. After a few days, even in the small world that is my life, I was able to reconnect with friends, relatives and classmates that I had practically forgotten. And one network of people branches out to another network and another til you are reminded that we touch so many souls in our short time on earth. I admit, it is a little unsettling seeing a photo of someone who you remember when he or she was fourteen, and it reveals someone with glasses and gray hair. The first thing you say to yourself is, " Jeez! I must look like that! "

But everyone is genuinely happy to see you as if you have all been sailing on the same ship together but you have been stuck in your cabin. It's like one humongous class reunion!

Will I start posting hundreds of photos of me and my family, or of the pancakes I am having for breakfast? No. Will I share pictures of every cute cat and dog I see on the Internet? Of course not. And I strongly doubt Facebook will ever replace my Twitter. But maybe, for the time being, I can make room for both Twitter and Facebook until such time when I have to quit my job just to keep up with both of them!  But I'd better go see who commented on my page before I get unfriended!