Friday, February 24, 2012

Facebook, which I always refer to as Fishbowl....

Being somewhat of a social junkie, I'm the kind of person who takes her social networking seriously. Or, at least, as seriously humorously as possible. (Huh?) I mean, what I really need is my own club. I had it, in a sense, for a while, during my bakery days: a cookie and a floor-show for a buck; please leave a tip for the baker. Thank-you.

In the absence of a bricks-and-mortar setting, I am forced these days to settle for the NBT: the Next Best Thing, which, in my world at least, is Facebook.

Now I know there are those of you out there who wouldn't touch Facebook with a ten-foot keyboard, but I find it difficult to imagine life BFB (Before Facebook). This is how I see it: at any time, day or night (thanks to my handy handheld device), I can step into an on-going party, check in, exchange some social niceties (or not-niceties, whatever the case), and make a sly exit.

And what a party -- all the predictable types are present:

The guy who only talks about music videos, or the show he saw last week. He fakes modesty when a girl he hasn't seen in thirty years suddenly speaks up and declares him her guru! Golly!

There is the person who shouts the headlines, all bold-upper-case-caps.

There is someone telling cute pet stories and passing around pet photos. (Admission of guilt.)

Suddenly someone strides forth from the kitchen carrying a hot apple pie!

Two or three people stand around day after day promoting their latest book/film/song.

Baseball. Football. Basketball.

Someone limps in on crutches: broken ankle. (Sympathy, please. Thank-you.)

A group over in the corner are playing a game: What kind of dessert are you?

Someone drags out a box of black-and-white photos from their childhood, tacks them up to the wall, one at a time.

Someone else wanders in trailing everyone they went to high school with....

Someone drinks too much and slobbers and blathers.

And then there are those who come to the party but lurk in the shadows, silent and brooding, occasionally stepping out of their comfort zone to offer a thumbs-up: "like".

Private conversations occur, websites exchanged.

There are trails of information, clues, answers, insights, embedded secrets -- the A to Z of human behavior and experience.

And my facebook persona? I'm just trying to make someone laugh.
Yes -- you.

10 comments:

  1. Facebook; hmmm. I do use it, but only to keep in touch with direct family and very good friends. It's just that bit quicker than Email.

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  2. I had a love/hate relationship with fb for a while...then I succumbed and now just use.
    It's here to stay, so might as well climb on the bus...too long in the tooth now to be doing that nose-cutting, face-spiteing stuff.

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  3. I admit it, I promote my art and books, and take advantage of that good thing. I'd be a fool not to.
    Ima FB Needing

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  4. I hear you. Local restaurants woo me to go out tonight. Peter Frampton tells me what's going on. My son drops by being rudely random. Very cryptic.People are bragging about their children and showing off very bad decoupage.

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  5. Cro, I almost hate to admit this, but I check fb before I check my email....

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  6. Ima, you do it with grace. I have some fb friends that ONLY use fb as a promotional tool. Boring! I view it as fb spam.

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  7. Had a FB account ... the only people who left message were bloggers I followed. Nothing much happened. Of course I lied about all my personal facts basically to thwart being profiled by the zealots running FB.

    Anyway, killing a FB account is tough. Sneaking into North Korea and stealing state secrets is an easier challenge.

    Despite never going to anything related to or smelling like FB, I still cookies and random message from them.

    Look in Webster's dictionary and FB is defined as an insidious alien soul sucking parasite, a voracious flesh eating malware.

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  8. I'm a social media junkie too. & yes, FB is in many ways a guilty pleasure, but I do rely on it & Twitter to stay connected both to "3-D" & virtual friends.

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  9. I actually just deleted my FB account because I could not take one more second of it. Your FB friends seem fun!
    Truth is I was checking it 10 times a day and I had grown weary of FB relationships. I miss real people. I miss talking on the phone or writing letters or sending cards. Maybe I will go back to FB, maybe not. I think I will add myself to your account if I do. Your friends are much more interesting.

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