I haven’t been on Facebook for very long but I am now absolutely addicted to it. I am friends with a very random group of people: one of the first guys I ever kissed, a couple of ex-boyfriends, one or two that got away, and a huge selection of people that I have met throughout my life that I never thought I would see again. I see photos of people I have worked with or went to school with, and regularly comment on the lives of friends who aren’t really friends; it makes me feel somehow part of a big network (which is of course the whole point of it, doh!). I still have real friends, obviously, (there are people who say that Facebook destroys real friendships) but I love all the banter with these remote friends dotted around the world. And some of the videos and links are fantastic, far more interesting and/or entertaining than all those daft “office joke” emails, and they don’t block my inbox. I get regular updates from friends who are travelling and doing exciting things, and even get to hear what people had for dinner that night (people, be a bit more imaginative, please!).
There is of course the downside, a “Facebook friend” has just discovered that her man was having an affair with another woman, and she discovered it through his Facebook page. Many years ago, women used to check for lipstick on their husband’s collar, then this morphed into looking at calls made and received on their mobile phone, and now the ultra-modern way of doing this is poring over their Facebook page for the slightest hint of misdemeanour. The chilling side of this is that a man recently murdered his wife when he saw she had changed her Facebook “status” to single. I also feel slightly betrayed when I see photos of friends having fun without me, and wonder why I wasn’t invited! (But I’m not planning homicide!)
And to end on a slightly silly note, has anyone ever tried changing the language setting? Whilst writing this, I have just discovered “English (Upside Down)”! I also like “pirate”, why not give it a go: on your Home page, look at the bottom left, where it will probably say “English”, click on this and select “English (pirate)”. OK, here’s where I “Abandon ship me hearties”!