Tuesday, October 13, 2015

Reluctantly Returning to Facebook (click unlike)

After four years (or more) I have returned to Facebook. After much thought and heartburn, I decided to rejoin. I don't like Facebook. But everyone else seems to love it or like it (click like) and face it (no pun intended) people don't communicate the same way they used to ten years ago. So I sit here in the dark most of the time. I can't change the world. I can either join or be left behind.
 
I left Facebook after having spent a whole day at a holiday craft show sitting next to someone's booth who was a "friend" on FB. We never spoke, not once.
 
So I decided then to do an experiment to test my hypothesis that making new real live warm human body friends was still possible for someone over 50, you know, the kind you call, stop by to see, spend real time with?
 
Not counting the women in a group I faciliate, here are the results of my study.
 
New real live human body friends made since leaving Facebook - 0
Projected pretend data friends that I might have made if I stayed on Facebook - 2245
Effort extended - 85%
Emotional status - very dejected and sad
 
I imagine when the telephone came to be, there were some hold outs there too. They probably found themselves nodding politely while there friends and family spoke of conversations with so and so on their new Westinghouse telephone.
 
I am tired of saying "where did you hear about that?" "Facebook".
 
I still do not like FB. I still much prefer human contact. I feel in order to be part of this changing world I have to comply. As the Borg say, resistance is futile.
 
Now let's see how many friends I make. The race is on.