Re: How active are you on Facebook?

house_cat · ‎03-09-2010

Very.

I generally post at least once a day.

I have friends and family all over the country, and it's such a wonderful way to stay in touch. I saw my cousins and NY friends in the spring when I went east for my mom and dad's funerals - instead of spending lots of time catching up, we could have more meaningful and in depth conversations.

I've been reunited with several dear friends from elementary school through college. I doubt if that would have happened otherwise. FaceBook has definitely enhanced my life. I would feel very lost without it.

~ house cat ~

JJsMom · ‎03-10-2010

I read it daily, but I only post maybe once per week if that. I will like or comment on friends' posts, but I don't post a lot myself. Some people post TMI, and it makes me cringe.

If you are neutral in situations of injustice, you have chosen the side of the oppressor. ~ Desmond Tutu

Mama Mia · ‎03-10-2010

My FB mind has went blank and how do I post onn FB, and chat too? I'm used to this and got mixed up. TIA

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"Cats are like potato chips, you can never have just one".

house_cat · ‎03-09-2010

The neighborhood I grew up in has a private FB group. Just today, an old neighbor tagged me on a thread she thought I'd be interested in seeing. Within 30 minutes, I had reconnected with several neighbors from my childhood, found out where they are now and how their families are doing.

One old friend told me that her 84 year old widowed mom had been trying to get in touch with my 84 year old widowed aunt for several years. My aunt had moved several times and her mom is now in Arizona. I called my aunt to tell her and forward the contact information. She was so happy to hear of her dear friend that she cried. She's looking forward to calling her tomorrow. This would never have happened if not for FB.

I can understand that FB is not for everyone, but I don't understand the pride some people take in saying that they have never tried it or have no use for it. Every new technological advance takes some getting used to. There was a time when people thought the telephone was spooky, television, email, texting. Do any of you recall the resistance many of us had to cell phones when they became available? Now it's hard to imagine life without them.

No one needs to join FB or any other social media if they are not interested, but some of the fear of it comes from being unfamiliar with it. Anyone who thinks their information is private in this era of technology is mistaken. It seems safer to embrace the technology and to learn to use it prudently, than to ignore it and imagine it will go away.

~ house cat ~

michellegirl · ‎03-12-2010

@ZoetheCat wrote:
I only joined facebook a couple of years ago because a friend wanted me to post. I think there are some great advantages to it. For one thing, my husband and I were able to connect with one of his cousins who lives in Florida (we are in New England) and when we discovered that she was visiting our neck of the woods, we got together for lunch. Hubby hadn't seen her since they were little kids so it was great to reconnect.

However, for the most part I have weaned myself from facebook. I was getting a little tired of the constant "look at me" posts. It just seemed to be a big brag fest. And then when the political season heated up it got downright nasty. I have always refrained from posting anything political and rarely discuss politics with people I don't know and don't agreed with. I just don't understand why anyone would post comments that insult roughly half of their "friends." What's the point? Finally, after the election, one of my "friends" posted something so racist, I decided that was enough. My husband said I should just unfriend the bad apples. If I did that, half of my friends would be gone, including several of his relatives! It's easier and healthier just to stay clear.

ZoeTheCat...I am in total agreement with you! I so enjoyed reconnecting with friends and family for some time after I created my Facebook account. But as my connections grew, I felt that more of what was posted was done so as to portray a certain image. I became less active in Facebook, just glancing at it from time to time. Then, after the election, because the results were so unexpected, I went back on to see what my connections were saying about the results and I found that I could no longer stomach the negative comments that continued for weeks afterwards. I actually like to hear opinions that differ from mine because I like to challenge my beliefs and be open to other viewpoints. But, far too many comments were beyond reason. Therefore, I just had to deactivate. It's interesting what you can learn about people, though, from those forums. Anyway, I miss the connection with some of my close friends and family. At the same time, it's nice not to have the distraction of Facebook. I'm much happier this way.