Dear Facebook,
I wanted to hate you, really wanted to. I'm a traditionalist, which in today's world of manic social media means I still have an active Blogspot address.
And I have to hand it to you, Facebook: you don't make it easy to love you. Your design is clunky and your technology is buggy. You claim to create "friendship" among millions of people, but are you ready to face the fact that you've created a deep divide between Farmville and non-Farmville enthusiasts?
"I like keeping in touch with people I otherwise would never hear from." That's what my husband said in your defense.
"You're not keeping in touch," I argued. "You're reading random sentences about distant people. If keeping in touch is food, then Facebook is McDonald's."
He refused to be swayed by my logic, which is a bad habit of his. Facebook, you need to come up with a new group: "1,000,000 Strong Against Unswayable Husbands!" (Mine still wouldn't budge.) So I, who am much more swayable, gave in and created an account.
But I still despised you, Facebook. I didn't join any groups. I didn't allow any applications. I hated Flair... no, wait, I actually liked Flair. And then you, Facebook, went through one of your periodic identity crises and updated your image and now Flair doesn't work. Thanks for that.
We bloggers don't like you, Facebook. Yet you suck us in. Know how? Status Updates, that's how. Bloggers can't resist the chance to write multiple mini-posts and get instant comment feedback. (By the way, we all still call them "status updates," even though your most recent makeover changed it to "share what's on your mind." We like updating, not feeling like we're in a giant small group.)
It's been two years. I'm"friends" with a lot of people now. Surprisingly, I'm actually FRIENDS with people I once barely knew. There are other people I care about but never get to see, and after two years of reading status updates, I feel like we've kept up with each other. There's the friend who moved away, and the other friend I haven't seen for thirteen years... Everybody's right here in front of me, anytime I log onto you.
Don't get me wrong. It's still fast-food interaction. But even fast food is better than emptiness.
So I don't despise you, Facebook. You're pretty okay. You've got your flaws, but nothing we can't live with. And to judge from me and my friends, we'd have a hard time living without you now. A Blogger can admit defeat gracefully.
Just don't get me started on Twitter.
-- SJ
Saturday, January 30, 2010
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10 comments:
Well said Sara, I totally agree! It's alove/hate addiction kind of thing :-)
I actually have a Twitter account but I still don't get the point.
I've loved being your Facebook friend! :) Even though it sometimes makes me miss you more!
Ask your parents' generation about Facebook. We know that updates and news feeds and comments aren't very deep communications, but a lot us also know that with old eyes and stiff fingers, we aren't likely to write many long letters; maybe others like long phone calls, but you know how good my phone reception is, so spotty that phoning isn't a good choice.
Good blog, Traditionalist.
I think of it as an interactive address book.
Dear Facebook,
I would like to second everything my friend Sara said. I resisted you for a long time, but have found that lo and behold, I HAVE reconnected with old friends with whom I had lost touch, and I DO feel as though I am keeping up with people's lives, even from Africa.
So thanks after all.
~ Leah
I agree with you too. I resisted for a long time too. Then I finally gave in to both FB and Twitter. (My statuses are linked, so you're not missing anything). But it does bug me that some people have left their blogs in ruins due to facebook. Now they see no reason to keep up their former blog. But maybe it's a good thing. I think the true writers will keep blogging!
I despise Twitter. I closed my account after one week. When I realized that people like Ashton Kutcher were on it, I was like, whoa, I'm outta here... Never again.
But status updates in Facebook with instant-gratification comments? LOVE IT!
;) L
Was gonna say - I predict a grudging twitter usage in your future...
Well, possibly, Kelly. I'm not saying never. I actually do have a Twitter account, and I love the idea of fitting an idea into a certain number of characters. I just don't really see the point, especially since I couldn't figure out how to get people's updates emailed to me. Surely there is a setting that allows that. Surely I don't have to GO to Twitter.com to read people sentences?
FB fills the need for quick, instant thought-sharing. And there's always my first love, blogging.
-- SJ
SJ - I didn't like Twitter much until I got Tweetdeck. Notifications every two minutes from people you follow. You can link in your Facebook notifications in a column. It's almost better than email. Seriously. ;-)
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