Can Someone Explain Facebook/Twitter?

[Tuckervill]

Ok, then I had the right impression...it's an egocentric crowd that is using it. That's what I thought. What is this generation coming to...

Lisa

That's kind of an unfair and ignorant assessment.

Most of my friends are over 40, many over 50. My father was 71 when HE invited me to Facebook, in 2007. My generation is making very very good use of Facebook.

I find it an extremely useful tool for keeping up with my friends and family who are far away. I wouldn't know near as much about my grandchildren if not for Facebook. I wouldn't see the most recent pictures instantaneously if not for Facebook.

I recently found a good friend whom I'd lost touch with since we both moved away. It was awesome and lovely. I had searched for her on Google for a long long time, and it wasn't until Facebook that we actually connected. I'm thrilled and so is she!

I dare you to get on Facebook, and just connect with the people you know who are already there, and just sit back and watch. You'll change your mind.

Karen

[jobob]

So I'm egocentric because I use facebook? *Shrug* whatever.

[Kalidurga]

Like anything else, it is what you make of it depending on how you choose to use it. If you choose to categorize and then dismiss it as a platform for the egocentric, realize that you do so without fully understanding it.

[papaver]

Et voilÃ*, just made a TE'er friend on FB.

[krisl6]

Et voilÃ*, just made a TE'er friend on FB.

Wow, me too!

[Veronica]

I know I had some folks following Thom's Twitter posts as we crewed for RAAM and while I was doing my HIM.

Right now I can't run and can barely ride (a whooping 7 miles on the tandem yesterday!), so posting on Twitter about what I can do, makes me feel better. Egocentric... too bad. It's all about me anyway.

Veronica

[Flybye]

If you think that Team Estrogen is helpful and a wonderful community, would you call that egocentric as well????
Somewhere along the line, someone has said that "people who use Facebook are egocentric" and BAM, the stereotype stuck. I find that extremely unfortunate because it may have prevented people from connecting with old friends. How sad to miss out on the lives of others because of an opinion that someone voiced.
On a side note, we are all egocentric from a theoretical standpoint. When you get your family pictures back, who do you look at first? When you walk by a mirror, who do you look at first? Egocentrism is NORMAL. The problem with egocentrism is when vanity and pride and extremes slip in to the normalcy.
Facebook has been one of the most fantastic things that I have ever opened an online account for. I have found friends from elementary school. I am supporting an old friend as she undergoes chemotherapy and radiation. I have got good solid advice about how to proceed with a surgical procedure that my daughter was facing as well as follow up advice. I have been invited to social gatherings. I have seen pictures of my friends and their families that live in other states. I have learned of births and shared in grief over death. Facebook is no more egocentric than a phone call or an email to update others and receive support.
Bottom line, if people are egocentric to the extreme that it is an issue in everyday life, they will be that way on Twitter, Team Estrogen, Facebook, the telephone, etc. Everyone else who knows them expects that behavior and moves on. Drop the egocentric stereotype.
I double dare you to enjoy learning about your friends and family on Facebook.

[sfa]

I love Facebook, although I only very rarely post my own updates on it. I signed on first to get updates from a friend of mine who moved halfway across the country, got married, started a business, and had a baby. We talk every month or so, but FB lets me keep up with her like we did when she lived nearby and we weren't both so busy.

But since that initial reason for signing up, I've absolutely loved getting in regular touch with friends from high school who I had lost contact with and with my cousins all over the country who I never saw except at family reunions.

Contrary to popular belief, Facebook and Twitter are not primarily hangouts for teenagers--the largest demographic on Facebook is the 35 to 44 year old crowd. Twitter users are even older (that was a technology that was first picked up by older adults and is now trickling down to younger people). These are people who are pretty much like me--wanting to stay in touch with a large number of people I've known in the last 40-odd years in an easy and quick way. Is it quality time? Not really. But I didn't even know Mary Lee lived in Florida and that Sonja was back in Maryland and that Cynthia had a child two years ago--even getting little snippets from everyone's life is better than the nothing I was getting before!

Sarah

[Irulan]

That's kind of an unfair and ignorant assessment.

Most of my friends are over 40, many over 50. My father was 71 when HE invited me to Facebook, in 2007. My generation is making very very good use of Facebook.

I find it an extremely useful tool for keeping up with my friends and family who are far away. I wouldn't know near as much about my grandchildren if not for Facebook. I wouldn't see the most recent pictures instantaneously if not for Facebook.

I recently found a good friend whom I'd lost touch with since we both moved away. It was awesome and lovely. I had searched for her on Google for a long long time, and it wasn't until Facebook that we actually connected. I'm thrilled and so is she!

I dare you to get on Facebook, and just connect with the people you know who are already there, and just sit back and watch. You'll change your mind.

Karen

thanks Karen, you said that so much nicer than I would have.

[lunacycles]

For a long time I was extremely wary of FB...visions of old junior high boyfriends, amongst others, came to mind, hunting me down and forcing me to friend them.

Really, it is much more benign. I joined about a month ago because a friend insisted it is a great marketing tool for my business (which I think is arguable, but at least it is free!)...but I find it really fun on a personal level, and have indeed re-connected with some very good friends from the past (like this last week with a couple of former teammates with whom I raced Idaho's HP Challenge in the mid 90's!), none of whom I could have reconnected with by other means. And my sister, who never has time for a phone call, seems to have endless availability through FB. we poke each other daily.

I find it a very friendly format, and the extreme ease of uploading photos (there is a tool through iPhoto that allows you to upload about 50 in a minute) makes it really easy to share your life (on your terms) with your extended community.