In defense of Facebook

Speaking of habits, I've developed one new one that I count as good, but I know not everyone would agree with that assessment.  It's Facebook.   It has given me contact with wonderful friends I thought I had lost forever; it provides portals to fascinating news stories and new music; it has a couple of Scrabble-type games that I'm addicted to and which don't require you to give up any information about yourself in order to play.  (Yes, all this wonderfulness does have the potential to get out of hand, but it can be controlled.  More on that later.)

In the "BF era" (Before Facebook), my morning routine was to take a walk, shower, have breakfast, finish the two hours of Morning Edition on NPR (the first having been heard on my walk) and then head to the computer to write something here.  Now when I head to the computer I first go to Facebook.  I catch up on personal news of friends and interesting tidbits from all manner of media that those friends may share. Of course, I must also check the word games.  All that can take long enough.  On this particular morning, though, NPR music featured a new album by Bryan Ferry--a rare event by a unique performer whom I like very much. I ended up listening to the whole album.  By the time I even started here, then, I'd already been at the computer for well over an hour. That's excessive, I agree, but, it's also rare.   Facebook as a part of my morning routine is here to stay.

Facebook naysayers don't like the site because they think it's intrusive.  Agreed, it can be, but it doesn't have to be.  Just as plain old common sense comes in handy in all other of life's endeavors, its use need not stop at the Facebook door.  Example:  the site is full of fun questionnaires whose purported intent is to analyze certain of your personality traits and how those traits of yours compare with those of others.  Don't fall for them.  They're likely surveillance tools that transmit what you say about yourself to marketers who will then add targeted spam to your inbox.  As to privacy settings:  they're what you make them.  You don't have to post a profile picture; indeed you don't have to divulge anything at all about yourself except an email address.  Once you join, the "friend" database is easily searchable, making it possible for you to reach out only to people with whom you'd like to be in contact--others don't even have to know you're there.   It's actually possible to join Facebook and then hide from unwanted attention.

As I mentioned above, Facebook is more than a mere social network; it's a matchless source for information that is either fascinating or important, often both. The Internet already allows us to sample literally any media source in the world.  If you come upon a compelling article, you can instantly share it with your friends on Facebook via the link in the article, which these days is provided by all major media outlets.  I get important information from publications to which I'd don't subscribe myself--indeed sometimes have never even heard of--and likewise I share articles that I know others would have no chance of seeing in any other way.  I find this one of the most valuable aspects of the entire Facebook phenomenon.

Well.  I had no idea I'd be going in this direction when I sat down at the keyboard.  As some kind friend once told me, "it's your blog, you can write what you damn well please."  All this verbiage demonstrates to me just how big a thing Facebook has become in my life.  If you haven't tried it, do!  We can play a game of Wordscraper!