Maybe, I'm hip (hi res, thinks so) or un-hip. Maybe, I'm cool or is it un-cool. Whatever. Maybe in my small middle-aged world I just don't know the right hip/un-hip or cool/un-cool people. Whatever. I've got an account, I'm on Facebook. Okay, I guess, I "get" Facebook.
First of all, ignore almost every post here. Facebook is simply a tool, a communication tool. Some people like writing letters, others the telephone, email, twitter, in person doing something, in person just talking...making the nightly news. All of it is a way of communicating with the people around us.
And just like any communication tool, it can be used in a multitude of different ways depending on your needs/desires. Some people use facebook to make new friends. I've had people try and add me as facebook friends just because we went to the same highschool...and were 5 grades apart. Like, wtf? But that mades sense to them. Doesn't mean I add them
Personally, I use it to track my closest friends. I'm 26 though, and facebook was "College only" back when I was actually in college, so a lot of my friends do maintain a presence there.
I find facebook is primarily good, at this point in my life, for 3 things:
1. Tracking birthdays.
Because if you don't have one on a holiday, I won't remember it)
2. Tracking location.
Many people my age are still city jumping. Many friends are "lost" because it is difficult to maintain an "up to date" relationship with someone a couple hundred miles away. But what if you both move to the same city? An old highschool friend that I lost track of over the years turns out to work in the
same building as me. I didn't even know they were in the same city as me until facebook. How often though do you move to a different city and call up every acquaintance you've ever had to see if they live near you? How often do you even know what number to call?
3. Job tracking / Networking.
There are other networking sites that are starting to fill this role in better ways. But that doesn't keep facebook from being useful. I can see where my friends work, and if they get a new job. My generation is expected to work at a multitude of different companies (even in the same field) before we retire. Knowing where to work next is a difficult task, getting an "in" is even harder. "knowing people" as they say, is key.
4. Who married who.
Okay, so really this is probably only useful for a couple minute "wtf" conversation with the friends that are still close.
"She married THAT jackass?!!!"
However, when I finally get married I will make personal contact with all the close friends I want to tell and invite to the wedding. After that, I would have to rely on the grapevine to get the word out. Now though, I can post it on facebook and it'll expedite the information flow. People won't be finding out years and years later that you're married and have 2 kids.
5. Random information.
I looked up a pretty neat guy I sold a car to last summer. Based on the pictures on his wall, it looks like he is building a track car. That happens to be what I want to do this summer with one of my own old cars. I contacted him and we're going to get together and talk cars. Facebook allowed that casual exchange of information, and allowed us to decide whether we wanted to act on it or not.
Those are my uses for facebook. And I do a pretty good job of sticking to only tracking my own friends. My mom the other day though said that she added an old high school friend, and didn't like that she did. She started telling all these bad high school stories, which prompted me to ask "So why did you add them as a friend?!". She responded "Because I felt guilty about not accepting their invitation". I have no such guilt problems
I would you suggest you use facebook just like you use CallerID, or a letter in the mail. Don't pick up and don't reply if you don't want to communicate with them!
