Facebook - Love It, Hate It, Use it.

First of all, let me say that I'm writing this post as a way to get a lot off my chest. If you think it's about you, maybe it is and maybe it isn't. It's not about attacking anything or anyone, it's just my feels at 7am and my stream of consciousness.

I was going to post about Mackinac Island, and I will, but I wanted to post about this first. Recently, one of my favorite people decided that they couldn't handle Facebook any more - too many sad stories, too much politics, etc. Some of my other friends have noticeably declined in their use as well over the years, whether that's due to privacy concerns, being careful because of jobs, or just getting tired of it. The favorite person who dropped off Facebook also recently told me that they were having more email, text, and phone calls with people, and that it was great and that Facebook wasn't missed at all.  I'm really happy for the people that they are reaching out to and making the effort to keep in touch with (I'm not one of them, unless I initiate the conversation first).

Here's the thing about Facebook: love it or hate it, for me it's a way to keep in touch pretty easily. I know lots of people that are all like, "I don't give a crap what you ate for breakfast."  I get it.  I have friends that post about every workout, about every accomplishment that their kid has and how much earlier they did that than your kid, about the gourmet dinner that they made. I have friends with whom I heartily disagree on matters of religion and politics. But I feel connected to them. I have friends from all over the country and some in other countries. Yeah, maybe posts about breakfast or dinner are mundane, but at least I know one more thing about that person than I did before I looked at Facebook.  Because let me ask you, exactly how many people really keep in touch in ways other than social media? I'm just as guilty.  I call one person multiple times a week - my mom. Maybe I should reach out more in more old-fashioned ways, but I feel like I share a lot on Facebook, certainly the best parts of my days, and that goes to 90% of my friends, if they choose to look. Social media makes it feel a little bit more that relationships aren't one-sided.  A little less like you're always the one initiating, or always waiting for that phone call.

I was approaching a point this summer when I thought about leaving social media. Political posts, guilting posts (you clearly don't care enough about X,Y,Z), just all the negativity got to me. But then I made a conscious effort not to get sucked in. I quit clicking on posts that I knew would only upset me. It's social media, not earth-shattering news. And my feed did change. There are some of those posts that pop up regularly, but mostly it's more updates on friends' lives, kids, pets, funny stories, and it's a happier place to be.  And I do enjoy some of the stuff that pisses me off.  I have some friends from high school that are very right wing, and in case you haven't noticed, I'm a flaming liberal. But I like some of their posts, and I even comment sometimes, because I enjoy a good intellectual debate sometimes. I have colleagues - people that work in the same relatively small university as me - who I feel that I know so much better because of what they post on Facebook. Maybe I should have lunch with them more often, or maybe I should go sit in their office, but honestly, time gets in the way sometimes. So I enjoy "getting to know them" in a different way.

I get sick of people blaming our breakdown of society on social media.  Yeah, it can be frustrating, but I'm sure people said that when the telephone was invented that letter writing would go out the window. Communication methods change.

I guess I'll stop ranting now and get off my soapbox. I leave you with this - don't be stupid about Facebook or other social media - no drunken half naked pictures of yourself, please. But quit being so skeptical. Tell me how your day was, what's on your mind, to pray for your grandma, or just what you had for breakfast. Put on your tinfoil hat and get out there, people!