It all started last fall. I received a mysterious email that stated, "Jen T___ added you as a friend on Facebook. We need to confirm that you know Jennifer in order for you to be friends on Facebook. To confirm this friend request, follow the link below."
"Wow!" I thought. I AM friends with Jen! I felt excited. I'm a friend!! But why did I have to click on a link in order to tell her I'm friends with her?! There wasn't any other option, other than, I guess, to ignore the email and the link altogether. I wished it were more black and white, like those notes you get in elementary school from the weird boy who sits in the back of the third row.
I like you. Do you like me? Check
___ YES
or
___ NO.
Facebook, apparently, doesn't do things that simply. I didn't want to hurt Jen's feelings, so of course I clicked on the link and "confirmed the friend request." I puttered around a couple of minutes, not sure what I was looking at, and went on my merry way.
Then in January it happened again. Another friend, another request, another dilemma. Why shouldn't I be e-friends with someone I know in real life also? It seemed simple enough. I confirmed the request again.
Two months later, a couple more friend requests. Lately, multiple friend requests, and now I'm overwhelmed! What is this world, this Facebook?! I can barely keep up with my blog, and keeping my email in-box to fewer than 100 messages that need filed or responded to is like treading water in the ocean during a hurricane. Why should I be spending ANY more time on the computer?! I don't even have time to browse the Sonlight forums, for crying out loud!! And that's my "job," as a homeschool mother!! (OK, not really, but it's probably more valuable than updating my status on Facebook.)
So I finally actually created a Facebook profile. Put a family picture in. Wrote a little about my activities and interests. Typed in my graduating years. When I finished--BAM, there it was! A list of people I might want to be "Friends" with! How did Facebook know that I knew that person? Or him? Or her! I haven't seen her in years!!! Oh, my goodness!
And then I realized what was happening. I was getting SUCKED INTO FACEBOOK!!! If I didn't watch it, soon I was going to be the freak that was asking innocent people to confirm that they are friends with me! But what if they don't want to be my friend anymore?! I don't know if I can handle this kind of rejection!
And so I remain on the fringe of this Facebook fad, dabbling a little here and there, curiously wondering what my friends are doing at this VERY SECOND (are they STILL sleeping, for crying out loud?! That was Wednesday, Jen!!), and trying to decide if I should devote computer time to Facebook or updating our family blog.
Decisions, decisions.
6 comments:
I am literally laughing outloud! I ended up setting up a Gmail account (that I can checking, using Thunderbird, along with our home e-mail) so that I get Facebook notifications all in one spot and don't feel compelled to log into Facebook as often just to see if there's anything new there.
Whatever you do, do NOT add the Bubblewords application. It is incredibly, incredibly addicting!
(And I did run across one of my friends from 3rd grade and my best friend from 4-6th grades on Facebook. It was really weird to catch up with people that I haven't had contact with--or a way of contacting--for more than 20 years!)
There is something addicting to facebook and it's not about finding friends for me. I like the interactive games...some of which I can play with my sisters. I have to admit, facebook interrupts my stamping time. That isn't good! LOL
I haven't been sucked into Facebook yet. However if you do get sucked in, please blog about it a couple of times so I can figure out what the heck it is!?! Love reading your blog and keeping up with the fam's adventures. Suppose that could be done on Facebook as well?!? Enjoy the summer!!!
Hey Flogger, yes you can set up something in Facebook so that your blog posts get published automatically to your Facebook account for people to read.
It's slowly taking over the universe!
The main reason I started my account was to use the photo files to show lots of pics at once. Then I found my former students, and am now using it as an extension of the mission field I had while teaching. It's a great way for me to still have an influence in their lives, especially since some of the main ones I connected with and still connect to are not saved. In fact, one of them called me tonight! I've also gotten to know some moms at church better through it, which is cool.
Someday Megan will have to sit down with me and explain the Scrabble thing, which is why I have repeatedly ignored her requests....
Good stuff Bev, I also LOL'd! :) I am in the Facebook vacuum too, although I am going to probably drop my MySpace account.
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