F is for Facebook

I initially joined Facebook several years ago at the urging of some of my fellow bari sax players from the Aggie Band-uh!, as they were using the new social media as a way to stay in contact, organize section activities and the like.  Little did I realize what a boon Facebook and indeed social networking as a whole would become within my life.

Never did I imagine that I would be able to reconnect with so many friends and acquaintances from bands and college.  The biggest surprise was the migration of so many high school friends to Facebook, some of whom I hadn't spoken to in years or decades.  Eventually, several of my family members also ended up on Facebook.  I have been truly amazed by the volume of connections I have reestablished as the result of an enabling platform like Facebook.

Facebook has its drawbacks as well.  The OCD side of me hates missing updates, and so I do sometimes find myself obsessively checking it to see what everybody is up to.  Mafia Wars, my favorite social game on the site can sometimes be a massive time sink.  [Although technically that's more of a gripe about Zynga, its creator, than Facebook itself].  The idea of so much transparency into folks' lives also sometimes makes one want to withdraw from time to time from the online world.

For its faults, though, Facebook and social networking have enabled beneficial changes in my life.  I have reconnected with so many people and rekindled friendships.  I have a way to get in touch with such a huge volume of people.  And even when life gets too busy to be able to see folks in person, Facebook allows me to be able to keep up with the lives of people I care about, and its virtual community is able to exist even when physical distances or circumstances are obstacles.