Looking at Facebook II

I wanted to touch on Facebook again before leaving the topic. I have been wondering how one individual website could have mushroomed in just a few short years into a colossus with a membership of half a billion "friends."

Facebook was founded as "a response to modern loneliness," says a Newsweek reviewer. If so, it is only partially effective. Facebook calls its users "friends," but it offers a different kind of friendship, not the kind you want when you sit down with your best bud and share secrets. Facebook connects us to people from our past, current people we designate to contact or who contact us, and "friends of friends." It pyramids. It sails across oceans. For those who like gaming, it offers several types of interaction such as farming and gift giving. It connects us with lots and lots of people. But it doesn't bring us closer to those people whom we really want to love up tight. And it brings with it inherent risks. Whatever you say can get spread around the world, so you have to be careful in using it.

The secret to Facebook's success has to come in that it builds upon itself. One can "de-friend" someone. I de-friended a business associate who let me down big-time. My daughter wants to de-friend someone because of a change in a family relationship. So there are good reasons for doing so, but I suspect people rarely do. The bigger problem, for me at least, is that I now have a good-sized collection of Facebook friends and I don't know what to do with them. I only keep in touch with a couple, and I don't have time for more. So how does one put this kind of friendship to good use?

This leads me to wonder also, "Can Facebook sustain itself?" I didn't get much response when I surveyed over fifty people to see what they liked about Facebook. I'm thinking it may be too soon to weigh in on such a question. I think a number of people I've contacted are where I am—still wondering where and how to use it purposefully, if that can be done. In the meantime, if you're looking for computer fun, try it out. But if you're looking for a huggable buddy, look around in your family, church or club, or school for friends. What I call "real-time" friends.

Your friend, Facebook to some and real to many of you,
Margaret