Why I Love Facebook
Families use Facebook to keep in touch, same with teenagers, and authors use it to let people know about their books.
I’ve heard some say they don’t understand Facebook or what the great attraction is–frankly I don’t understand those people.
Here’s why I love it. I have a huge family and many of them are on Facebook and I get to read what they’re doing and see their latest photos. One of my friends from grammar school found me on Facebook. She read about me making an appearance at a college near her home and she met me there and we had dinner together. Never would’ve happened without Facebook.
Someone who friended me on Facebook made comments after a lot of my posts so I became familiar with her face. When I was giving a talk at a bookstore in her town, she came and I recognized her face immediately. It was like greeting an old friend. Recently she told everyone at another talk that she loved having me for a friend on Facebook because I shared so much of what is going on in my life it made me seem like a “real person” not just a writer. (And she loves my books.)
Other readers I’ve met at mystery conferences have become my friends and I love reading about what they are up to–and the same with writers I’ve met in the same places. Especially since Mayhem in the Midlands was cancelled at least I can keep up with the authors and fans that I loved to hang out with.
I like it when people review movies they’ve seen–I rely on their feelings about the movie much more than any of the paid critics. Same with books, if someone I “know” really likes a book chances are I’ll like it too.
I like reading what other members of the Stiletto Gang are doing when they post on Facebook.
So, what are your feelings about Facebook? Love it or hate it? And why?
Marilyn
http://fictionforyou.com Books by Marilyn
I have a love/hate relationship with Facebook. When it's good, it's really good and when it's bad, well, you know how that goes.
It's hard to explain why/when it's bad. For some, these relationships are not normal – some of us do not live near our family for a reason – lol! And sometimes it seems it's too easy to interact with people online instead of getting together in person. And other times, it just feels overwhelming to have so many interactions with so many people from so many diverse places – life gets too noisy.
But then there are special moments of connecting with new people and old friends – those are the magical moments.
It all comes down to managing your time with Facebook, which can sometimes feel like work. It does seem to fill a need but I keep reading how millions are getting off of Facebook. Will be interesting to see what happens next.
I love FB, too, because writing is such a solitary and sometimes lonely profession. Checking out FB allows me to "connect" with my friends in the virtual world. Maggie
I am one who did get off of FB recently because it was just something I didn't find I was using.
In addition to what Kathy Holmes, above, says (and I agree with) it doesn't seem FB, itself, is a problem. The problems come, as with every other tool or resource, in how it is misused.
Plenty of people DON'T use FB well or decently: too much sniping, too much ugly opinion and language, too much personal info not just on themselves but on the innocents in their orbit, etc. If FB was all fun and appropriate "let's coordinate a get-together" or "here are a couple of pictures from my recent trip" interaction, that would be lovely.
So, good on the people who make positive, happy, productive use of it all. In my case email, the telephone, and face-to-face contact do what I like and need, so I take a pass on FB.
I do know that Facebook isn't for some people, those who have to tell all the details of intimate relationships–yes, I actually had a gay guy tell exactly what he'd done on a date–yuk, I got rid of him. I don't want to know sexual details about anyone.
And kids are dumb, putting up when they fight with their mothers or boyfriends, but I can ignore that.
I do worry about those who gripe about their jobs on Facebook, not smart.
But for me, I just have fun with it. Thanks for you comments.
Marilyn
I love FB for all the reasons mentioned and more! I use it also to keep in touch with friends of all different sorts and all different degrees of friendship, and to make new friends all over the world(!!!) with interests that overlap. I do believe that any risk of getting addicted to it, and or being drawn into or offended by social drama and just plain aggressive/foul-mouthed persons is an aspect of the members, not of FB the app itself. Also, I tried Twitter but never figured out what it offered me personally, whereas I loved FB on sight for the egalitarian reciprocity of the friending process and commenting threads and such. I also created a public profile page affiliated with my personal page, that i use as my one and only blog. 😉 …Joe.
I loved everyone's comments. I think it's probably a different place for different folks. Personally, I get a big kick out of it.
Marilyn
Just like with everything else, FB has it's good and bad aspects. Each person has to decide for themselves if it's worth the personal effort for what they get out of it. Why did they sign up and is FB meeting it?