(I'll probably offend some people here. Oh well!)
I prefer to read books - you know, the real kind, with covers and paper pages. I do like my e-reader, and use it for specific types of reading, but if I am really going to sit down and read a book, I want a BOOK. When interacting with people, I prefer face-to-face, but am also content with letters or email because I can tell a lot about someone by what they write. I do not like the phone. I abhor texting. Facebook communication for me, is somewhere in between the phone and texting.
I use Facebook for a specific purpose. When I first created an account it was merely so I could check out potential new employees. Recently a couple of friends suggested FB as a more convenient way to stay in touch. I found out I could have almost all of my daily reading located in one place, and could also see what my Friends were up to . I enjoy the one group to which I belong, and it has been nice to keep up with people I "used to know" but who have moved away, and to connect with like-minded people whom I would probably never meet any other way. But my primary reason for being on FB is informative.
Articles. News Items. Prayers. Homilies. This is what comes into my newsfeed. I tend to use FB as a tool. Sure, I like the funny things that pop up - the family photos - the craft you just created - the trip you've been on - the new baby - the "here's what I want to do with the rest of my life" post. And perhaps this makes me an unusual person on FB, but that is not why I'm there. So when people ("friends") I don't know send me a message and then act offended when I don't respond, or if I get one too many silly facebook games from one person ... you know, the "post this to your page" or "well since you liked my status you now have to do thus and such"... guess what? I am very quick to unfriend. People I know, people who are my Friends - that is different. But if you don't know me, don't presume that you do.
That is what I mean by the illusion of intimacy. Just because we are FB friends doesn't mean we're Friends. And if we are Friends? Then you'll know it because I have your email address or phone number or I see you on a regular basis. I can count my Friends on one hand, and my close acquaintances on the other.
I'm only closing in on 30 FB-friends, because I've unfriended some who didn't meet my high standards and I'm very careful of whom I accept as a friend. So if you are on that exclusive list? You must be pretty awesome!! :-)
2 comments:
Michelle, good insights. I think you are right on target about how some people succumb to the false intimacy of Facebook. I have connected with some wonderful people on Facebook, but, like you, I also use FB basically as a tool. In my case, it is to surround myself with like-minded people spiritually, and to learn from their inspiration. It is to share my Catholic faith with others and to learn from them as well. There are so many wonderful Catholic things I would never have read on Facebook if weren't for the FB friends I have chosen.
But there are also many negatives to Facebook. You can not let it become your life or an obsession. Time flies on Facebook, and it is lost forever if one is not careful. There is also the tendency and trap of comparing one's life with others on Facebook . Am I as smart or as religious or as spiritual as this person? Is my life as exciting?
But getting back to the focus of your blog-- Yes, random people do ask you for friendship, and people's personal dramas are posted everywhere. There are also many occassions to pray which would not have presented themselves to me had it not been for Facebook.
I enjoyed reading your blog! Good thoughts. God bless!
Bob, I completely agree with you. Can't think of anything to add! Thanks for the comment. God bless and have a blessed Advent Season.
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