Saturday, January 16, 2010

Why I Have Grudgingly Returned to Facebook

It happened on Thursday, after a really emotionally draining day at work. I called my best friend from high school to see how he and his wife are doing (they are having twins this Spring). He was understandably tired and distracted, and couldn't remember when we last spoke. He wasn't sure if he had told me about some of the health issues he and his wife had been facing. And then he said the all too familiar phrase, "Oh, yeah. You're not on Facebook."

Fine. I give up. If this is the only way I get to know stuff about my favorite people, then I guess I will have to suffer knowing too much about people who are less important to me. I have returned to Facebook.

So far, I have been really excited to reconnect with my friends and family about all their news, both mundane and exciting. I can report those things to Dan (he has also refused to rejoin; I'm taking one for the team). I like seeing how lost friends are doing, and photos of their respective spouses and children. Perhaps I will even see some of them again in real life.

As far as dislikes go, I've already listed most of those in a previous posting. I will add that I now find the mechanics perplexing, but I'm sure I will figure out how to post photos eventually. I've been more savvy in controlling the settings. I don't care who sees my profile, but I set it up so I don't get any email notifications about stuff happening on my account. I'm trying to allot a certain portion of my day for this activity.

The one thing that really upsets me about Facebook, which I haven't touched on previously, is that it makes me feel incredibly lonely. I'm not sure why that is. I like to think there is some way I can manage it so that I don't feel that way, but if the feeling persists, I may have to withdraw, again. But for the sake of knowing what's happening to the people I love, I will give it a shot for now.

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