It amuses me lately the number of moralistic responses I've received from colleagues and friends when I say that I love Facebook.
"Oh no I don't believe in that," said one girl at work firmly convinced that I was asking her to join the cyber equivalent of the Church of Scientology.
"It just doesn't sit well with me," said another as if I was proposing an orgy at the water cooler
"It has stopped people communicating; it's making the world a colder place," muttered a mate who spends most of his time talking into his schooner at Stonewall.
What bollocks! Facebook bloody rocks. It's like your daily press release to the world…..for some, a half hourly press release….some people do get a little carried away with their status updates. But look, I think it's fantastic particularly for friends who are on the other side of the world and not in your hood. I love the fact that I can log on and see what my friends in London, New York and anywhere else are up to. If I want, as I do often, I may drop them a line or write on their wall just to say hi. Pre-facebook, they would not have heard for me for months albeit years.
I've had a great experience this week where I've caught up with a heap of friends from school and my early uni years. It is wonderful to hear from these guys again. We somehow all lost contact in the 90s and now we are back in touch. Without facebook, the next time I would have been reading about them is a Class of '92 High School Reunion Invitation, which I would never attend. What was a fleeting moment in the past of "I wonder where they are these days" has now turned into through Facebook "How the hell are you?"
Yes there are some Friend Requests which come through who you 1) Don't know (I seem to get a lot from Brazil or Africa asking for money) 2) Don't want to know (the nerd you sat next to in that legal seminar and you had a shared interest in finding a pen) 3) Kinder know (the fateful '"oh my god he's so hot until u see him under the harsh brutality of fluorescence so u run off" disco pash' from Palms the night before) 4) Know but have absolutely nothing in common (the colleague u sat next to in your first job who attended their local Pentacostal church on Sundays and thought lesbian was a star sign). For all of these situations you of course have the IGNORE button which I have used from time to time.
Friends of mine have been in the difficult situation where they have had work colleagues send through friend requests (particularly ones they are having difficulties with in the workplace) and have been confronted with "Why haven't you accepted my friend request yet?" whilst discussing Britney and deadlines over the fax machine. Thankfully I haven't been faced with such a dilemma.
My mother raised the important topic of identity theft last night after I told her my news of catching up with these old school friends……
Mother: "Oh darling you're not into that are you?"
I felt like I was coming out all over again
Me: "What do you mean?"
Mother: "That facebook…..they might steal your identity"
Me: "Well they can have it!!"
"Oh no I don't believe in that," said one girl at work firmly convinced that I was asking her to join the cyber equivalent of the Church of Scientology.
"It just doesn't sit well with me," said another as if I was proposing an orgy at the water cooler
"It has stopped people communicating; it's making the world a colder place," muttered a mate who spends most of his time talking into his schooner at Stonewall.
What bollocks! Facebook bloody rocks. It's like your daily press release to the world…..for some, a half hourly press release….some people do get a little carried away with their status updates. But look, I think it's fantastic particularly for friends who are on the other side of the world and not in your hood. I love the fact that I can log on and see what my friends in London, New York and anywhere else are up to. If I want, as I do often, I may drop them a line or write on their wall just to say hi. Pre-facebook, they would not have heard for me for months albeit years.
I've had a great experience this week where I've caught up with a heap of friends from school and my early uni years. It is wonderful to hear from these guys again. We somehow all lost contact in the 90s and now we are back in touch. Without facebook, the next time I would have been reading about them is a Class of '92 High School Reunion Invitation, which I would never attend. What was a fleeting moment in the past of "I wonder where they are these days" has now turned into through Facebook "How the hell are you?"
Yes there are some Friend Requests which come through who you 1) Don't know (I seem to get a lot from Brazil or Africa asking for money) 2) Don't want to know (the nerd you sat next to in that legal seminar and you had a shared interest in finding a pen) 3) Kinder know (the fateful '"oh my god he's so hot until u see him under the harsh brutality of fluorescence so u run off" disco pash' from Palms the night before) 4) Know but have absolutely nothing in common (the colleague u sat next to in your first job who attended their local Pentacostal church on Sundays and thought lesbian was a star sign). For all of these situations you of course have the IGNORE button which I have used from time to time.
Friends of mine have been in the difficult situation where they have had work colleagues send through friend requests (particularly ones they are having difficulties with in the workplace) and have been confronted with "Why haven't you accepted my friend request yet?" whilst discussing Britney and deadlines over the fax machine. Thankfully I haven't been faced with such a dilemma.
My mother raised the important topic of identity theft last night after I told her my news of catching up with these old school friends……
Mother: "Oh darling you're not into that are you?"
I felt like I was coming out all over again
Me: "What do you mean?"
Mother: "That facebook…..they might steal your identity"
Me: "Well they can have it!!"
2 comments:
yeah facebook is fun if used sensibly :)
Hey, I am going to have to find out your REAL identity and then become your friend on FB! ;-) I need more hot friends!
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