Jobob's got it right--I get on FB when I have the time for it, which is generally very early in the morning before my family gets up or late at night after the kids are in bed, dishes done, lunches packed, etc. I would be FINE with people calling me during those times, but they don't. They call at 8:00 at night when I'm trying to do a million things and I end up getting my kids to bed late because the person on the other end of the phone who DOES have free time right then wants to chat and I don't want to be rude by saying "look, could you just email me please?" FB lets people keep in touch who have wildly differenent schedules (also works great for different time zones--FB was how my sister and I kept in daily contact when she moved to Norway).

Of course, I've never been a fan of phone calls. I don't like talking on the phone and never have. I wrote lots of letters to friends and family when I was in college, but email came around about a year after that and it was a godsend to me.

The other obvious benefit of FB communication is that you're communicating with a lot of people at once. Instead of spending time on the phone relaying information to one person, you're updating your whole family and your complete circle of friends. When you're part of a big family like mine, that's really nice--no more of the "well no one told me that!" when you forget to tell one person about something going on. Case in point: I was heading out to Girl Scout camp on a Friday afternoon (and in charge of the group so I couldn't bail on them) when DH called to tell me he was taking our son to the ER with pneumonia and the flu, going directly from the pediatrician to the hospital. Because I couldn't drop everything and didn't have the time to call everyone (I did make one call to my sister; once I got to camp there was no cell phone reception and DH wasn't allowed to use his phone at the hospital) I posted that news on FB, which let everyone know what was going on--far flung friends sent virtual support while local friends stepped in to bring dinner to DH in the hospital, walk and feed our dog, and get a change of clothes for both DH and our son. I'm not saying these things wouldn't have happened without FB, but it sure made things a lot easier!

Sarah