The funny thing about Facebook is that some of the people I call "friends" don't talk to me when I run into them in person. Why is it so hard for us to talk face to face, yet we don't hesitate to text-talk on Facebook?
Then there's the problem of misunderstandings on Facebook. The written word is easily misunderstood because we can't see facial expressions, body language and tone of voice. And for some reason it's so much easier to blast someone when they're not actually in front of us. We say things on Facebook that we would never say in person. Facebook gives us a false courage to say exactly what we're thinking, but sometimes those thoughts are better left unsaid.
I have to admit that I have posted comments on Facebook and then went back and deleted my comment. I just wasn't sure that what I said would be received well, so I removed the post. If you ever do that, you should know that your comment will go to that person's email whether you delete it later or not. I'm sure many relationships have been destroyed by misunderstandings on Facebook.
If there's anything that Facebook has done for me, it's taught me to give people the benefit of the doubt. I believe everyone has a right to their opinion, and just because someone doesn't agree with me, it doesn't mean they hate me or they're out to get me. Facebook does have some merit as a social networking site, but I wish it were this easy for us to make friends and be friendly in person.
If I have a Facebook party and invite all my Facebook friends, would you come if you had no other plans? Would you be interested in sharing what's on your mind in person? I kinda miss the days when people were more sociable while in each other's presence. If I run into you at the grocery store or the gas station, will you smile or say hello?
I guess that's why I don't spend as much time on Facebook. I just don't want to get hooked on something that seems to be so lacking of human contact. I'm not a fan of this high tech world. I think life was sweeter before cell phones and laptops. My daughter can't live without her laptop. She can't live without Facebook and OOVOO or whatever the heck it's called.
She sits in her room in front of her laptop and talks to her friends while they sit in their rooms. They can see each other and chat while they do homework or work on projects. I guess that's a good thing since my daughter has no siblings and doesn't live in town like I did when I was her age.
When I was fourteen, growing up in Pillow, I could walk down to the skating pond on a day like this and skate for hours till I was chilled to the bone. Sometimes the skating went into the night and I came home smelling like a burned tire. I found friends everywhere I went. We'd hang out on our front porches at night in the summer sipping birch beer from glass bottles that we bought for fifteen cents at the soda machine beside the post office.
Life was sweeter before cell phones and laptops because we spent more time with each other, face to face, in person. I miss that about life. I miss that human touch that we seem to have lost. That's a part of my childhood that I will always treasure. I didn't turn on a computer to be with my friends, I went outside and found them there. We got to see and hear each other laugh instead of LOL.
Facebook has its place, but we could probably all try a little harder to be better friends in person, to talk without a keyboard, smile without a symbol, and laugh without letters. Nothing beats a friend who's really there.
Dad gives daughter $200 to quit Facebook | MNN - Mother Nature Network
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