Mind the Gap: Facebook

There was a time a couple of years ago when my fingers would itch to type those familiar letters on my browser as soon as I logged onto the internet. I used to be a big fan. I loved Facebook and I do mean LOVED. I would log on multiple times a day just to see if anyone had mentioned me in a status update or tossed something at me or posted on my wall or tagged me in the occasional photograph or, the ever so rare but most awaited of all, if anyone had sent me a message. The only people on my friends list, were those I knew at some point of time in my life and the growing number of people on that list gave me a warm fuzzy feeling inside. I even tried out different games and got addicted to a few…

I saw what Zuckerberg had created and it was good.

But, that was a while ago…

Every time the makers of Facebook tweaked it, there were a new set of rules to learn so that you could restrict the viewing of your page and pictures to only those few you chose. I gave up changing settings after a while. Instead, I no longer upload pictures or update my status. Now, I log on simply because my fingers are used to tracing that familiar pattern on my keyboard. I scarcely glance at the stream of never-ending updates on my homepage. Once in a while, if I feel like it, I react to things I see moving on that homepage while I scroll down by clicking the ever-so-convenient “like” button. Only rarely do I feel compelled to comment. Even though I once did it myself many years ago, now I don’t understand how people seem to confuse Facebook for a journal. It annoys me. No one needs to know every detail of your day. What’s private should remain so. What’s put out on the internet is there forever and forever is one hell of a scary time period. I think that Facebook is just the easiest way to reconnect with long-lost friends and relatives and obviously, remember birthdays…

Sure, I have my grievances. But, I still continue to log in everyday. I don’t think I would ever delete my account permanently. For me, even though some days I hate that just about anyone can sort of get a glimpse of me if they only looked at my page long enough, at other times, I’m grateful that through Facebook, I have a chance to get a larger number of people to hear what I have to say…

Love it or hate it, you have to admit that Facebook was….Facebook is….and probably will be for a good while yet…

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Part of the Weekly Writing Challenge: Mind the Gap. Facebook: To Poke or To Puke?