Facebook: The Good, The Bad & The Just Plain Annoying

Let me start off by saying that I'm no expert when it comes to Facebook. I've had an account for a few years but only recently (during the last year) got into the swing of things and started using it on a regular basis. I have to say that I have a love/hate relationship with Facebook. Here's a little list of some of the Facebook pros and cons that I, as a relatively new user, have encountered.

• Pro:   I can find old friends from high school
• Con:   Old friends from high school can find me

• Pro:   On fb, I recently found out that an old classmate graduated from Harvard!
• Con:   I didn't

• Pro:    It's a great way to kill a little spare time
• Con:   I have no spare time and my laundry production level is in the toilet.

•  Pro:    I can see friends' personal photos
• Con:   I feel like a voyeuristic weirdo while I'm looking at friends' personal photos

• Pro:    It breaks down the walls between friends, family members, co-workers and old classmates
• Con:   I love those walls. I've never once called my grandmother, best friend from second grade, old boss, the guy who "tutored" (wink, wink) me in college Chemistry and my Priest to say, "Hey, do you guys all want to get together for coffee? We have so much catching up to do."

• Pro:   It's free
• Con:  Heroin is usually free too, in the beginning that is, and then they get you hooked and suddenly there's a price. I'm keeping an eye out for my fb invoice in my email "in" box. I realize that they make money on the advertising, just stay with me here.

• Pro:   Your spirits can be lifted when, out of the clear blue, an old friend "friends" you
• Con:   It feels like a kick it the gut when someone "unfriends" you. "Unfriending", c'mon now, is that not the most passive aggressive way of breaking up with someone ever (in a friend kind of way)? Leaving a phone message is more confrontational, waaay more confrontational. I fully expect Hallmark to develop a line of greeting cards: "Heard you were recently 'unfriended'...Please just know that I'm here for you during this difficult time." By the way dear readers, did you know that Hallmark has a line of greeting cards for people who have recently gone to or come out of rehab? Seriously, they do, I came across them the other day...I digress.

•  Pro:    One can adjust their settings for privacy and other preferences
• Con:    I've adjusted many setting but, who knows how to adjust all of them? I've come across so many facebook posts where people have written some pompous statement like, "Learn about your facebook settings before you go complaining about Farmville! All you need to do is..." followed by some lengthy task list that will supposedly block applications (I swear, I was doing everything in my power to go without mentioning "Farmville" in this post, my efforts were futile). Sure, I'll sit down and spend hours trying to understand all of my facebook settings right after this thrilling game of Dungeons and Dragons. Because really, it's only the geekiest of fb users who understand all those settings. (I just totally aged myself with the Dungeons and Dragons comment, didn't I? I hate that. Have I mentioned that I'm still in my thirties and will be for another three and a half months. You know everyday counts when a person starts using half months, for example: "How long did you live with your husband's parents?" "About three and a half months"....."How long have you been without the use of your legs?" " About three and a half months"....."How long before you turn forty?" "About three and a half months"...)

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  Pro: You can put your best foot foward and only share the good stuff. For instance, you don't ever see anyone post their mug shot, holiday weight gain status or detailed divorce proceedings.
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  Con:  The people with whom you are the closest are laughing at your status posts because they know what's really going on.

So in summary, (not because I'm finished but, because my twins are about to kill eachother), let me just say that overall I enjoy fb and have also, found it so very helpful when it comes to networking.  I am sincerely flattered when someone "friends" me and I welcome it.  I love staying in touch with people who, I know, would be distant without facebook.  And honestly, when it comes to doing laundry, I'll take any excuse I can find to get out of doing it, facebook seems to do quite nicely.

Quickly, I wanted to share a link to a blog called: Ignite Living. I came across it when I was doing a little fb research. It's written by a man named, Charlie Pabst. He wrote a post about fb. He's pretty hilarious but, unfortunately, he hasn't written much lately. I'm trying to get him to write more, and by "trying" I mean that I dropped him a line on fb in hopes that he will stop whatever it is he's doing and write something that will make me laugh. Wonder if he would consider writing my etsy listing descriptions...ah, pipe dreams.

http://www.igniteliving.com/