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Facebooking facts is for friends
(by Barbara Christian - December 17, 2008)
WINDOW ON MAIN STREET, BY BARBARA CHRISTIAN
Facebooking facts is for friends
An open letter to my Facebook pals: You flattered me when you asked me to be your friend, because, as you know, one can never have too many.
And it was you who engaged me in virtual snowball fights and who wrote on my virtual wall and who kept asking what was I doing at that very moment, although the answer should have been obvious.
And in response to one Face friend, I dutifully listed my 10 favorite Broadway musicals and promptly read your picks too. Just as an aside, I would argue with Terry's choice, "Wicked." But that was his decision. Who am I to say that, as adaptations go, "South Pacific" has more staying power.
And those virtual snowball fights. Back in the day before computers and things like Facebook, when we wanted snowball fights, we went to a friend's back door and hollered his name.
So if it's a snowball fight you want, then let's take it outside. The real outside. The next snowy day, we'll meet in Riverside Park, and we'll have a go at it. OK, you are on, old Face pal 'o mine.
And what is with all the commenting back and forth. I can't stand it. Pick up the phone and talk to the person, for gosh sakes. Tell her, for instance, that you don't think the picture she posted is flattering enough for her engagement announcement.
You know, of course, that her fiance's Facebook friends are going to have something to say about it. How they don't understand what he sees in her. And oh, well, differences do attract. So if I were you, I'd definitely tell her to go with a glam shot.
Facebook has been defined as "a social network." It reminds me of a movie I saw not long ago. I can't remember the title, but it is about a group of friends planning an evening out on the town. For an hour and a half, we watch the various characters talk to one another's answering machines.
Or if you are a bit older than the answering-machine generation, think of Facebook as one big telephone party line.
Speaking of the arcane, what happened to chat rooms? Instant massaging? E-mail? Cell phones? Texting?
Admittedly, I have not figured out the frantic snarl of stuff that is the Facebook experience or why it has everyone so obsessed.
My real-life friend Sue, an avid Facebooker, says it's addiction. Truth of the matter is I don't need another addiction.
But thanks to Facebook, I now have more friends than I know what to do with. With every new person who asks to be my Facebook friend come all of their Face friends too.
When I started writing this, I was going to ask my Facebook friends to cease and desist involving me in their Facebook lives, but I am not sure there is a way to get out of this Facebook maze, since I accepted that first invitation.
But I have thought better of it. I will just sit back and wait for a new wave of Face friends and the next invitation to take part in whatever. Like they say, you can't have too many shoes or too many friends.
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