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Do you use a social networking site? I’ve come to find that they’re for people of all ages, and not just places to brag about getting stupid drunk on alien secretions (that’s a real drink).
Others have found this out, too, as evidenced by Facebook’s recent explosion. I established my presence (but no presents, dang it!) in February, mostly at the behest of either my Great White North brother or his wife. Plus, even near Dallas it’s cold in February, so what else was I going to do? In the last few days, at least 40 folks I know have shown up and now 64 are on my Friends list. Some are old high school buddies, most of whom I’ve known since grade school, and others from college. Many I haven’t set eyes on in 20 years. It’s an online reunion, but not exclusive to those in my graduating class.
Several of the Facebook friends with whom I’ve reconnected live within 30 minutes of where I sit typing this right now (home, by the way). One I bumped into in person not long ago, and of course wrote about it in “The Two People You Meet at Discount Tire.”
My MySpace account hasn’t seen any action in a long time, and that’s fine by me. Facebook is superior in most ways for my use. For one thing, it e-mails the actual message someone sends instead of just a heads-up that you have something waiting if you’ll go log in. That’s a handy feature when I’m on a break at work, where I can’t even access social sites. Also, Facebook seems a bit more grown-up, if that makes sense. Profile pages don’t have all those gaudy and God-awful themes that people without any design sense apply to their MySpace accounts.
I’m pretty sure 64 profiles are far more than I can follow at a meaningful level. I suspect newcomers will slow down after the newness and sense of discovery (”Oh my gosh, that’s insert name here, no way!”) wear off. I know I will.
Despite that, however, I am glad I can communicate with some of those good friends from my past. Maybe I actually will.
Okay, I just wrote nearly 400 words discussing Facebook and MySpace. Somebody help me.