Friday, September 19, 2008

swirling in the vortex


Do you know what this picture is?


It's a Black Hole.


Do you know what I did today?


I got sucked into Facebook.


Do you know why?


I don't either.


I don't even know how it happened. Oh, maybe I do. I have a friend at work who is a) younger and b) way more computer savvy and c) younger, and she has steered me toward some cool sites. Like Pandora, which is a lot of fun if you're looking for new music that you are (almost) guaranteed to like. There have been a couple of others, too, and I've come to believe her when she says "Oh, you're going to love this!"


And then we come to Facebook. It was a little slow today at work and a lot of the (younger) people there were checking their FB pages. All it took was one smart ass comment from me that I honest to god don't even remember, and the next thing I know I'm sitting in front of a computer with someone else entering all of my information. I kept on and on about how I didn't know a thing about FB and how did it work? and what's the point and so on. I was especially curious because I had gotten an invite to be a friend from the woman who had been my maid of honor when the FX and I got married, and who I've kept in very sporadic touch with the last whole bunch of years. (Repeat after me...rotten correspondent, rotten correspondent, rotten correspondent). I was kind of ready to take the leap.


That was when we found out that I already had a FB account. WTF? I did? At first I thought one of my kids was messing with me, but then I remembered that laurie invited me to become a friend last May, so I joined up so I could. And then forgot all about it. Clearly, the FB charm had been lost on me.


Until today. As my friend put in info that pulled a bunch of people I knew from work up, I started to get intrigued. And when laurie threw in her two cents worth of FB education, I thought hmmm....this could be interesting. (I know there are twitter and plurk fans out there, too. Imagine how ignorant I am about how they work).


Anyway, I get the feeling that this could be a great new way to waste spend time on the computer. Gee. Like I needed one more reason to not get cracking on my book.

16 comments:

Susan said...

The fifteen-year-olds have facebooks. Maybe you could see if they want to be your friend!

ped crossing said...

I have thus far resisted facebook. I don't have any more time to waste.

What is a girl to do?

-Ann said...

I staunchly resisted Facebook until Middle Brother had to delete his MySpace page because of an ex-girlfriend meltdown situation. I had always thought that I was too old for FB.

Now I love it. It's a fantastic way to keep up with people and so easy. I found out that Youngest Brother's cat died from his girlfriend's status, saw that Middle Brother was in a relationship, and have been able to keep up with the goings-on of loads of friends. It's perfect for a Rotten Correspondent, really.

laurie said...

it's not really a black hole. it's a good way to keep in quick contact with people, or check in on them without having to take the time to call or write.

it's perfect for a rotten correspondent!

i also like the privacy of it; nobody sees my page if i don't want them to.

just ignore all the drink-sending and nonsense; that suck up your time and it's way too easy to accidentally ask all of your facebook friends to take the "what do you like to do on friday nights?" quiz. (i have done this. and it's embarrassing. i have a lot of professional contacts on facebook.)

it's not just for kids--i'm "friends" with folks i know at the wall street journal and the chicago tribune and other places. it's just a way to keep in touch.

Jo Beaufoix said...

I'm there too. I 'm not on it as much as I used to be but it is nice to pop in and say hello to people every now and then and great for arranging stuff with friends.

Kim said...

My teenagers are on FB. Other than blog friends, I don't know anyone on facebook over the age of 18 or 19. That I'm aware of, anyway. Did I mention my teenagers are on facebook? They were quite creeped out when they got friend requests from their 65 year old grandmother (their father's mom). She was using an assumed name, but one that totally exposed her identity.

Devon said...

I am 43 and therefore have absolutely no idea wtf fb is... and I'll admit the same to plurking! Sigh, I'd better hit google before the geeks confiscate my computer!

Irene said...

I'm on Facebook under my regular name. You can find me there.

aims said...

I have turned away every single request for facebook. The Man doesn't think it's a good idea to have my face out there - you never know where The Beater is looking.

Iota said...

Noooooo, don't do it. I'm here, lying on my front at the edge of the black hole, holding out my hand, stretching my arm to its limit, calling out "Aaaaaaaaarrrr, Ceeeeeeeeeee, come baaaaaaack", but I see you disappearing into the swirling darkness, coffee in one hand, keyboard in the other, looking up at me helplessly. I tried my best, but the pull of the vortex was too strong.

Jenn And The City said...

No, no. You MUST write the book! Please!
Added you to my blog list today - hang in there.

Jenn

lebanesa said...

I love Facebook. I keep in touch with real people I know who don't live near enough for me to see them regularly and others I used to know years ago. It is a quick line to them and I love it for the informality - for sharing pictures with family and even playing games with old friends. But I keep away from making friends with people I have no real connection with. Better than Blogger for privacy and communication. As I found to my cost this year, people can find you in Blogger.

the planet of janet said...

i'm TOTALLY a facebook addict (and plurk too, but let's not go there).

the lure of fb for me is the word games. word twist. scramble. some whacked-out version of scrabble.

ahhh. i love me some word games. do you? we could be friends ......

Cath said...

Hmmm. Yes I got drawn into the FB black hole too. I am in the process of finding out how to delete myself off it!

Anonymous said...

Yeah i like Facebook. And Mom, i'm, 16, not 15.

Amy said...

Apparently I'm going to have to join it because my class uses a facebook page. How is it any different from a blog or email or myspace? I hate myspace.