Facebook Etiquette

Forgive my obsession with Facebook but since joining it, I am realizing all sorts of things about this social networking site. First of all, I realize the draw of Facebook now. It allows you to communicate with people in small quick exchanges. You can divulge your mood, what you are currently doing, intimate and/or useless pieces about your life to people at any time through the simple act of writing on your/their Wall. Thus, you give people access to yourself without really any trouble on your or their part.

Second, Facebook does not make distinctions between “friends” and “acquaintances”. Thus, everyone is your friend. I enjoy this feature but in sending friend requests, I did not send requests to all people that I knew. I just sent requests to those I had considered my friend in the past. Since then, many people have sent me friend requests and it has occurred to me that people either define “friend” much more loosely than I do or have some kind of competition about how many friends they have on Facebook. Some of the people were merely nodding acquaintances. Others I was delighted to establish contact with again. I don’t mind this at all but the nuances of relationships can obviously never be replicated on Facebook.

Finally, Facebook does allow you to interact with a large and diverse group of people. In this sense, this tool is unlike any other – unlike telephone conversations, email or anything else. But does it minimize one-on-one interactions? I called Jill about a month ago and she said she thought that I was calling to tell her that I was pregnant. Since this was absolutely crazy, I asked her why she would think this. She said, “That’s the only reason people call anymore.” Is this true? Is all our interaction now on internet – IM, email, Facebook?

On the whole, though, I must say that I have enjoyed Facebook – and am totally hooked. Also, thankfully, after the first couple of days, my activity on it has reduced significantly, so I do not worry about it any more.

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In Other News:

Work: I am way behind. I need to grade 40 papers, prep a class, teach 4 classes and decide on 3 paper topics by the end of the day Friday. I also need to find time to work on an article and a conference paper for NPSA.

Weekend: Gregg’s parents will be here this weekend – we are thinking of taking them to Lititz, PA to do the “Chocolate Walk”. Thankfully, I do not like candy much so it should not make me put on 30 pounds.

Giggs: He is now 9 pounds – up from the 6 he was when we got him. He has been a little sick but is recovering now.