So, once again, I dive into something full force, after not giving it the time of day for along time. This time it is Facebook - spurred on by a work colleague who invited me to be his Facebook friend, and by the subsequent embarrassment in realizing he would see that I only had 3 of my own (2 siblings and a childhood friend), I began to aggressively reach out to friends to build my list.
And, along the way, a funny thing happened. I found some people I hadn't been in contact with for years. I know, that's the purpose of these things, but it was still a pleasant surprise. I love the ease of re-connecting, of immediately having the ability to see updated photos of old college friends and their children... the only thing that frustrates me is that only a small percentage of the people I look for are on.
I also am not quite sure I like the feature in which you update your profile and a message shoots out to all of your friends letting them know. This goes both ways - I really don't need to know that my teenage cousin was wasted and doesn't know how he got home the other night, nor do I want everyone in my circle to know I've updated the religious views section of my profile. On the other hand, it's sometimes fun to sign on and get a whiff of what people are up to - lots of "happy it's Friday" but also I learned a friend cajoled his way into the Project Runway tents at Bryant Park yesterday through Facebook, and I learned about another's child's birth, complete with newborn photos, the same way.
The biggest coup for me, though, has been an email conversation with a friend I'd lost a number of years ago. Lost, as in, he stopped speaking to me after a silly argument. He reached out to me first, which was nice, and even better, he has continued the dialog, even when the conversation topic seems to have run its course. I still have felt like one wrong move and I'll scare him away, like suggesting we get together in person, but then, lo and behold, he made the suggestion first (albeit in a very general, "we should sometime" way.) When I received that last message it was like I had been coaxing a new kitten to come out from under the bed.
And, along the way, a funny thing happened. I found some people I hadn't been in contact with for years. I know, that's the purpose of these things, but it was still a pleasant surprise. I love the ease of re-connecting, of immediately having the ability to see updated photos of old college friends and their children... the only thing that frustrates me is that only a small percentage of the people I look for are on.
I also am not quite sure I like the feature in which you update your profile and a message shoots out to all of your friends letting them know. This goes both ways - I really don't need to know that my teenage cousin was wasted and doesn't know how he got home the other night, nor do I want everyone in my circle to know I've updated the religious views section of my profile. On the other hand, it's sometimes fun to sign on and get a whiff of what people are up to - lots of "happy it's Friday" but also I learned a friend cajoled his way into the Project Runway tents at Bryant Park yesterday through Facebook, and I learned about another's child's birth, complete with newborn photos, the same way.
The biggest coup for me, though, has been an email conversation with a friend I'd lost a number of years ago. Lost, as in, he stopped speaking to me after a silly argument. He reached out to me first, which was nice, and even better, he has continued the dialog, even when the conversation topic seems to have run its course. I still have felt like one wrong move and I'll scare him away, like suggesting we get together in person, but then, lo and behold, he made the suggestion first (albeit in a very general, "we should sometime" way.) When I received that last message it was like I had been coaxing a new kitten to come out from under the bed.
posted by medusa at 8:02 AM
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