Communication

It has been a long time. I must have had a good winter because I didn't see any reason to blog. Or perhaps, it was a bad winter because there was nothing blog worthy to share with the world. Either way, I'm back and again, as I've said so many times before, I am going to do this more often. I mean it this time:)

Today's Topic of choice: Internet communication, specifically Facebook

Facebook has taken over the world. Oprah featured guest tomorrow is Facebook's creator. If Oprah's talking about it, it must be a big deal. I can't help but feel like Facebook is losing some of it's coolness. It was cool when not everyone had it... but I find myself recruiting all my non-Facebooking acquaintances. As a person who doesn't like making phone calls it has been an incredible way to stay in contact with people who may have otherwise fluttered out of my life after high school or college graduations. Facebook has also served as a pathway to turning some otherwise strictly acquaintance relationships into friendships.

But, Facebook also creates a lot of gray area. I find myself struggling with the lines of who to add. I don't add many people unless he or she really is a friend, relative, or relatively close acquaintance. I am often stunned by the friend requests I receive. The surprise is often pleasant, but sometimes not so much. I am pleasantly surprised often by who wants to be my friend. I have been requested a couple of times by people I thought highly of and know, but I was not aware they even knew who I was. Usually if I know the person who is requesting that I add him or her as a friend, I confirm because I suppose if they want to be my Facebook friend, there isn't any harm in that. I am a substitute teacher and am constantly receiving friend requests from students. This concerns me more for their sakes than my own. I don't like to see inappropriate things... if some posts something that I deem inappropriate, generally bad language, I delete that person as a friend. I don't need that kind of stuff and I won't tolerate it. I struggle with who to accept and who not to. I also must be very aware of what I am posting. I lead a very "clean" life and have nothing to hide. But, I also must be aware that my friends can see all of my thoughts and writings on Facebook.

The new format is making it even easier to see what all of one's friend are doing and thinking as well as writing to each other. The new Facebook homepage looks and awful lot like a Twitter live feed page. It's fun, but even more apt to comment and being read.

I didn't have e-mail or Internet for that matter until about 8 years ago. Now, I can't imaging life without it. I'm sure I would live, but I wouldn't want to. Communication has truly been revolutionized.

Another thought I had recently... Postage keeps going up, which is at least partially blamed on the evolution of e-communication, but wouldn't costs then be able to stay at least relatively stable since fewer postal employees are needed and gas and other transportation costs should be less because of a decrease in mass of mail?