Let's Talk About Facebook

Are you a Facebook fan? Have you been for long? Right before Christmas, we joined the revolution of Facebook. And I must say, we did so more dutifully than eagerly. Actually, I wasn't eager at all.

Today I want to talk about the upside and the not so upside of Facebook and what "Works For Me Wednesday" about Facebook in my life.

To know me, I am very social and outgoing. So I communicate naturally weather it be in person, by phone, email, or letter writing. I enjoy all of these means. Because I have written in several mediums all of my life, I love writing letters.

Am not a huge proponent of change so when the internet evolved and email. I was the last to join that revolution because I'll admit I loved my telephone conversations. And I loved my letters - writing them and receiving them.

Eventually I got the routine of email and it was a wonderful thing when Mountain Man and I were in a small town where he was at the University and everyone we knew lived in another town.

Back to Facebook, so when all the 'friending' requests kept coming, I didn't understand why these same friends already were 'friending' me. And by all means, why didn't they just email me anyway.

I did join Facebook and I have to say, it's just public email. Are people better in groups? Are most people better writing to a 'wall' than actually writing a friend. I am not sure. There is something about personal communication that I enjoy. So the whole Facebook phenomenon is a bit anticlimactic.

This isn't to even mention how time consuming it can be to set up your friends, you know, all the people in your email. Even though Facebook is done very well. They make it simple. You 'invite' your entire address book.

Never mind, that all relationships are not one and the same. So you set all of this up and then the "wall-to-wall" -writing back and forth - and there you have it. From there it is instant communication with your whole entire communications list.

So I will share quickly what I love and not so much here.

What I Love about Facebook:

1) Facebook does make it run smoothly, updates, home page, profiles, etc. All are user friendly.
2) It is fun to see where everyone is;
3) You can quickly comment as much as you would like and
4) You get an email anytime something happens on your profile

Not So Much:

1) It seems so trivial
2) All relationships are not the same.
3) Right now it just seems redundant. After all I blog, I twitter, I email, I write, etc. and
4) Therefore I do not see the need to have those same relationships a.g.a.i.n in FB (yes, I know I can set up my Twitter to update on my FB. why? Twitter is not FB so why post it there. And why do people (mostly non-twitters post on FB like it is a Twitter? )

At any rate, for now, I do enjoy checking in on an email I have received and getting updated. It is simple and easy.

However, here's an update, just today I 'narrowed' (okay, deleted) twenty or so contacts from my Facebook. My relationships are not all one and the same and I did not want those communications to be.

And when I had something really exciting to share this week. I picked up the phone and called my girlfriend, another mom, right her in town, talked it all over. Then I blog about the things in life that we blog. And life is good.

Then I went and put it on Facebook. So the jury is out. I am enjoying the benefits, seeing the downside. Until then, it is good to know that my girlfriend's baby is potty training, and my cousin's baby is happy. These things otherwise, would get lost in the mass of Christmas cards and Christmas letters that attempt to convey these things.

I'll admit it, Facebook "Works For Me Wednesday!" Does it for you? Check out Shannons WFMW and share yours.

What's your take? FB or not? Twitter? Do you prefer to keep those close family and friends separate? In the grand scheme of things, I am a blogger, writer and Tweeter ;) who "Facebooks" too. What about you?

Warmly,

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26 comments:

Melissa Stover said...

i was having some of the same thoughts over on my blog today. came here through your twitter post so that must say something.

Carol said...

Twitter is clean and easy. 140 characters a shot. Try not to shoot too many times per day. So make each shot count.

Twitter has all that other stuff. Write on the wall, send the gifts, invite to the groups, play the game... It's a time suck just to sort through all the invites folks send me there. I definitely do not have time to go write on everyone's walls when reading/commenting on blog posts does so much more to benefit my blog.

Was that .02 worth? Hard to tell with the economy all jacked up these days.

Julia @ Hooked on Houses said...

I like Facebook for two reasons: 1) Because of it, I've had a virtual class reunion with friends I haven't seen from high school or college since graduation. 2) I keep up with everything my teenage nieces and nephews are doing. It's been a great way to keep in touch with them since they're on it all the time. :-)

Shawna said...

Well, I'm a blogger, I twitter, I have a MySpace, and I just joined Facebook.

It is definitely a little too much, but I have a whole different set of friends on each one, it seems, though some do double duty. That is okay.

One thing I have noticed is that I only have time to tend to some of them, which means that not all of them get updated at once. That is okay.

All in all, it is a lot of fun.

Melissa Miller said...

We don't and won't.
We keep getting invited over and over by certain family members and we aren't really liking the bugginess actually.
I agree I just don't get it.
I can email these people anytime...HMMM...:)

creative gal said...

It is funny, I have a lot of "Friends" on FB, but do realize ya need to be careful. . . I wish you could put a few more limits on it. I do enjoy finding some of my HS and college friends. . . And, I have a few folks I have not befriended. I have thought about deleting some folks too. :o) Good post! Oh, please add me into the interview list! :o)

Wendy said...

I like Facebook because it lets me keep up with my sisters, cousins, and most of my close friends from high school and college that I live so far away from. Most of my "friends" invited me and I tend not to accept if I don't remember them. That said, I do have a few that could probably be purged.

LOVE, MERCY AND GRACE...GOD'S GRACE said...

I started using facebook not too long ago. It's okay, I have had a chance to meet up with some people that I have not seen in years, which I'm glad...but for me it's too "busy". I'm not really interested who said what to whom about who or what...can't keep up with all of that!

I do not know what "Twitter" is, so I can't say on that one. But I blog and I think it is a "tighter" (meaning closer) community in bloggerville than Facebook, myspace, etc., a more select group, if you will.

Okay, there you go!

~Beth

Sarah said...

Okay, I'm with you on this one. I can't quite figure out what all the hype is about. You know what I have started doing? When someone requests to be a friend and they ask what I have been up to, I tell them briefly and then refer them to my blog.
I think I lean more towards blogging then FB--otherwise I would be on the computer all day!

Unknown said...

I admit that I also reluctantly joined FB because my friends from grad school were begging me to. I keep most of my FB friends to people I know in real life, while Twitter is more open-ended.

I also feel that FB is redundant with blogging and twitter. But I have increased my blog readership to include the people who know me since I post links to my current blog posts on FB.

Most of my friends on FB don't *get* Twitter, which is sad, since it's my fave. but I do like FB for being able to catch up with old friends with whom I've lost contact and staying in touch with family.

Michelle said...

HA! I love this post! I do have a FB, a blog and I Twitter. I love Twitter, my kids think I'm silly which makes me love it that much more...ha!

Shannon said...

I have been feeling the same way. I was pressured into FB by a younger sis who lives six hours away. We have now stopped typing and started talking on the phone again.

Christy said...

I totally agree with you. I find that I would much rather spend my time blogging:)

Amanda said...

I started with FB about six months ago and I much prefer it to Twitter (which I joined last week). I can keep up with lots and lots of friends without the jumble of lots of emails.

I do not do any of the extra stuff (flowers, flair, pokes, etc.).

Anyway, I am wondering the same things about Twitter that you are about FB. ;)

Danielle said...

Facebook is not "trivial" if it lets you re-connect with old friends you haven't talked to in 15years or more. I've read your post, and I'm still not sure if you like the site or not. Huh.

a Tonggu Momma said...

I love that Facebook allows me to find friends from school that I've lost touch with. Let's say I friend Amy, who kept up with my old pal Marcie, who I lost touch with five years ago. And then Marcie found our old pal Jake through her brother's friend -- Jake, who we haven't talked to since HS graduation, but used to hang with all the time. THAT is what I like about Facebook.

What I don't like? The busyness of it all. It's enough to require Ritalin.

Robin said...

I joined Facebook because a friend dropped her blog and did Facebook only. It was amazing how many people from my past found me. I like it for it's ease of communicating. I've left messages and chatted with my teenage neice. That never would have happened with just email. Through Facebook I found out someone I used to see weekly is now expecting a baby and was able to congratulate her. I don't update my status or post pictures very often. That's what I have a blog and Twitter for. I never play the games or send "gifts". I think that's just silly.

Carolina Mama said...

First, Shannon that is beautiful - my sis and I have stopped typing and are talking on the phone again! :)

Miss. Mama, just so you know, I did say the Jury is still out. :) So I am using FB, liking some aspects, yet have those hesitations and wanted to know what y'all think.

Thanks everyone for sharing. I am not in this alone.

Tammy said...

I guess I am a tech junkie. So I FB, twitter and blog. I love that I am back in touch with so many people I spent years of time with. I'm not a good phone caller, but I will write on your wall or comment on your status and photos to beat the band. :-)

It's not for everyone.

Mel said...

i twitter, blog and have facebook...but i forget about facebook all the time LOL...

Ginger said...

I've just recently in the last few months started blogging...may someday join twitter or facebook, but with work, family and church, it's all I can do to keep the blog going!

Nancy M. said...

I never joined facebook and I guess maybe I won't now. It's nice to hear from someone who's already done it. I will stick to blogging and tweeting.

Jane Anne said...

Your post was interesting to me. I have been on facebook for a while now and I am just trying out Twitter. I cannot figure out what the point of Twitter is and what is the right kind of "twittering"? Your comment about people putting Twitter statuses on FB made me really curious. Maybe you can email me? What is the difference between the 2 types of statuses??

Great post. I enjoyed it. I enjoy Facebook but I am much more addicting to blogging.

Belle (from Life of a...) said...

Facebook is just OK for me too. I like the idea of finding out where friends from 25 years ago are and what their families look like but I like blogging a lot better! I haven't tried Twitter.

Anonymous said...

Hi Friend! I'm having fun reconnecting as I enjoy my do~over in blogging. And let me say that when I deleted my blog, I also deleted Facebook and Twitter and will not be restarting either. For the same reasons you mentioned.... :) Hugs, Kim

Anonymous said...

I "facebook", but I have not learned how to "twitter"? or is it "tweet"? LOL

It's good to know that you narrowed your friend list down. I was wondering if that was considered rude! LOL I just did mine too...there were people that I had met online through a message board, and they all started "befriending" me, and to tell you the truth, I just didn't KNOW them and didn't feel comfy sharing the little parts of my day with everyone and their sister...or brother. Which brings me to another point. An ex-boyfriend from highschool found me, which made me oh so uncomfortable. Not because of a bad break up or anything like that...but because he ended up just being a little bit too friendly on Facebook for my tastes, which put me in an awkward position of having to kindly remind him of my marital status. Careful, gals...Facebook can be an easy temptation. Fortunately, this situation was a great conversation starter between my husband and me regarding God's justice and forgiveness. Yes, I tell my hubby everything. :) So I'm learning, and it looks as if I'm going to be narrowing some more and being a little more careful about whose friend request I accept! On the other hand, I love being able to catch up with family and friends that I don't get a chance to talk to or email regularly...just see how life is going for them or update them on mine with a quick status change. Those can be great conversation starters in themselves! :)

Sorry, didn't mean to get off on all that! Just loved your topic! Really came to say that we have more in common than being boy moms! I'm a Carolina Mom too! Only God tossed me out here in Texas for some crazy reason...I have heard He has a sense of humor. ;)

Nice to "meet" you!

Anyway,