Facebook. Where can you beat it?

Has Facebook taken over our lives or has it enhanced them?

In my opinion it has made some aspects of my social life a little easier, but the jury is still out. Lend me your thoughts...

I became a Facebook member in 2008. Until then I was a member of Myspace.com. A good friend encouraged me to come on board with Facebook...and has it been a ride!

This network has it's own language, and tones. There are Facebook romances and Facebook fights. It seems to be an ever-changing and ever-improving social network and I will have to say that it has helped me to keep up with friends, relatives and classmates.

It is so much easier to write on someones wall than to pick up the phone and call when it has been too long. And on the receiving end it is great to get those messages from friends that you haven't talk to. This year will be my high school class's ten year reunion and in an effort to wrangle all twenty eight of us in, to start the contact and planning process I have been able to start a class page through Facebook that I can facilitate through my own account. That's a big help!

There is the option to post messages on someones wall or for more private content you can send a message to their inbox, which is essientiall a Facebook e-mail. For the frequent Facebookers you can post an update on what you are doing every five seconds for all your friends to see if you wish. These updates may include a range of content from, I am getting a haircut, to, I'm just about to be wheeled into surgery!

Did I mention pictures! Wow, where else can you have a photo album that only has good photos. Yes that's right, you get to pick and choose. What's even more fun is looking at other peoples photos, especially if you haven't seen them in a while. I have some friends that have a cute little boy and I am getting the chance to watch him grow through Facebook photos, whereas I am not able to see him in person as frequently. These photo albums allow users to see what their friends did this past weekend, and in a sense be more involved in their lives, virtually. I know it sounds scary, but many of us are guilty.

As for me...

Facebook has given me the forum to catch up with old friends, relatives,and classmates. It has also been a wonderful tool for me to network with new friends and collegues in Austin. I don't post things on my own wall frequently but I do comment on friends pages a great deal. Whether it be on their photos, or their post it makes me feel connected and in a sense we are able to have a conversation via the web.

I do keep updated photos, and dated albums to help show my Facebook friends who I am, and what I am about. And in turn I enjoy viewing other peoples photos. I even go so far as to think that Facebook is a good place to store digital photos.

There are all sorts of applications that are associated with Facebook that allow you to interact with your friends in a more gaming sense. I am only a member of Farmville, which much to my dismay was quite addictive. An although I don't devote a great deal of time to Farmville, it is a pretty cool game. There are others that compare such as: Cafe` World, Farm Town, and Mafia Wars, just to name a few.

Since it reaches so many people it is a prime place to advertise. There are a constant stream of advertisements that I view on Facebook daily. Some that apply to me and some that don't, but they are viewed just the same.

Regardless of what your use for Facebook is, you can so easily make it apart of your daily routine and it's only true down fall is that it sucks you in and can be time consuming. That said, in my opinion, the pros out weigh the cons on this one!

In closing...

Dear Facebook:

Thanks for everything!

All the best,

Jonathon Storms,
A Loyal Friend