I haven't posted anything in a while, not because there is nothing to talk about, but more because there is just too much. Hopefully I will be able to tell you all about the past month soon.
But I had something I wanted to talk about. In the past 16 hours I have had two people tell me that they won't use Facebook because they prefer "Real" or "Tangible" relationships. I disagree. I don't feel like Facebook promotes fake or intangible relationships, in fact it has helped me reconnect with friends who I probably would have never seen or heard from again- and it has helped me get to know family members, Sisters, Cousins, Brother's in Law, much better than I ever have before. Now I have some guesses as to why these people find No Joy in Facebook- for one of them, they simply have never tried it- preferring to make a judgement based upon other peoples experiences maybe. For the other, I am assuming that the world did not laugh at every joke that was made and maybe someone didn't respond quickly enough to their friend request....who knows.
For me, I enjoy the daily life experiences that are shared. I also enjoy the fact that I can hide certain friends addictions to applications (I am glad that you have a virtual zoo and that your zoo makes you happy, but no, I really don't care to hear about your new panda- same for your virtual aquarium). I have a cousin who at times is Hilarious and at other times she can be as foul mouthed as a drunken sailor, I haven't hidden her but I have learned that if you give her a day or two she is back to her old self and you can read her updates with out fear of having to wash your brain out with soap.
I enjoy being able to vent frustrations or triumphs and have people understand and give advice or even just a "like" or "dislike" in real time, like my friends are right here with me. Maybe it is a Mother thing, when you spend all day with people who don't speak your language it is nice to know that there are people who understand- just a few key strokes away.
I also like being able to pose questions- I really like the fact that my friends are not afraid to oppose each other, even when the question is Political. I love that about my friends, they are real, they have real feelings and real thoughts and they are not afraid to share them.
Maybe I am just lucky. Maybe I have the right mix of friends to make something like Facebook worthwhile for me. I will take that luck and be happy that it is mine.
(Those are my thoughts, it was nice to share them using more than 240 characters.)