Make new friends, but keep the old. (Traditional Round)

One of the Friends that I'm still looking for.
This was taken in August 1980.

I have developed a love/hate relationship with Facebook, and I’m not sure what to do about it. Quite frankly, the whole thing surprises me. I didn’t need Facebook, and I didn’t want Facebook. After all, I had Ravelry which fulfilled my need for both organization and socialization.

Then I learned a friend that I had been searching for was on Facebook. So I joined, just so that I could talk with her. (Ironically, we’ve had only a couple of quick messages; nothing like the long, intense heart-to-hearts that I had envisioned.) By the end of the first day, I had become friends with several family members. By the end of the first week, I was friends with a dozen people I hadn’t seen since high school. I’m continuing to renew lost friendships as well as finding it easier to keep in touch with current ones. Facebook provides an even easier internet media than emails, my previous communication preference (being almost phone-phobic).

I’ve learned that it is easy to become addicted to Facebook. I find myself sneaking quick peaks throughout the day (even at work!) to see the latest status updates. Recently one group of my Friends held forth against another, lamenting against the constant moment-by-moment updates. While I can agree that it may not be necessary to mention what you’re doing every step of the way, I’m firmly in the camp that enjoys regular updates. I especially enjoy status updates that are cleverly written. For instance, one Friend recently posted that she thought “today was the tomorrow of yesterday.” (Although I did feel duty-bound to correct her, since today is obviously tomorrow’s yesterday). Another Friend frequently posts a line from an appropriate song lyric; I don’t always catch the song, but I enjoy trying to puzzle it out.

I also enjoy seeing everyone’s photos. I may not have talked to someone in over 25 years (I still can’t believe that it’s been that long!), but I will ooh and aah over pictures of their family and their vacation travels. And sometimes, I just sit and stare in amazement at the talent – I’m referring to an extremely talented artist Friend that if I wasn’t in love with him in high school, I certainly am now; wow!

But that also leads to the hate part of my relationship with Facebook. I’m embarrassed to admit this, but I find myself almost jealous of the Friends I have online. I read about their jobs, and their families, and the wonderful things that they’re doing and it makes me feel inadequate. I have a Friend who fulfilled her dream to be an actress, and has even written a play that was produced off Broadway in NYC. I have a Friend who just came back from a fishing trip in Alaska, and who manages to spend a good part of his time (at least according to the status updates) fishing. (I love to fish, but I don’t get out nearly as often.) I have another Friend who is a belly-dancer. (She’s much closer to being a gypsy than I am.) My Friends all seem happy, well adjusted, and relatively stress-free. And it takes a lot of reminders to myself to remember that, online at least, so am I.