Can Someone Explain Facebook/Twitter?

[SadieKate]

. . . I have [snip] shared in grief over death. . . .

I double dare you to enjoy learning about your friends and family on Facebook.

Lots of good posts, but Flybye's stuck out because of the sharing in grief aspect. A friend of a friend died and I joined FB to read her beautiful posts about the friend and the friendship.

I also use it to express my outrage, cynicism and laughter with similar-minded friends about political issues and political personalities. Topics I wouldn't post on TE. Since almost all of my close friends are far away and I no longer get the "group fix", FB gives me a way to sort of carry on the same conversations just via a different method.

I also get updates from various business and organizations that I "join" so I see, for example, when trailwork or fundraisers are planned, or ski season starts. My senator and congresspersons post regularly so I feel much more connected with the legislative process.

Double dare yawl too. It was completely different that I expected.

Now, Twitter - no I haven't tried it but FB is information overload as it is.

[jobob]

Um...think we need to ease off from hammering away on the point that it's not egocentric, etc. Point has been made before things spiral outta control.

The OP made a very derogatory generalization which was reinforced by a few others. I see nothing wrong with chiming in with opinions contradicting such a statement.

[GLC1968]

Oh good. It's Monday, I have a headache, and now I find out I'm egocentric because I've found a good way to keep in touch with people that I don't get to see face-to-face on a regular basis.

Me three.

Twitter has less of an appeal to me than Facebook, but mostly because I don't have time to be active on both sites. The BEST thing I ever did on Facebook was to learn how to hide certain people's updates. While I might love being in contact with an old friend from college - I do NOT need to know that she is thinking about having a burrito or that her dog smiled at her every step of the way. I just removed her 'updates' so that I don't have to see them. I can always go to her profile and view them on my time if I want (which I don't!).

Facebook allows me to stay in touch with the friends I have from the 4 different colleges I attended and the 10 different places I've lived...it's amazing! Plus, it's helped me build my current local circle of friends as well. Is it a replacement for real talking and real face to face interaction? No. Does it supplement it? Hell yes.

[shootingstar]

For me it was just really boring, I didn't care that my cousin (who I haven't seen in 20 years) just put a cake in the oven. My stay-at-home-mom cousins posted every detail of their day, all day, and seemed to be offended if I didn't respond often enough.

So, for me, it just wasn't worth my time. Others feel differently and they stay on FB, different strokes.

This type of vicarious detailed knowledge of my loved ones and vice versa would actually drive each other nuts/frustrate one another. It works when some families using older technology, phoned each other to talk about daily events several times per wk.

But we weren't even like that when I lived in the same city with my family and friends with regular telephone. I was in contact with any family member about every 2-3 wks. when I lived in the same city. I guess I belong in a family of independent happy and loved loners.

Heck, my dearie and I still haven't gotten around to cellphone just for 2 of us. Now it's a cost issue that neither of us want to bear given that we have to budget more tightly.

[Crankin]

I think that I feel exactly like Shootingstar. I am in contact with everyone who I want to be in contact with. Really, if I want to talk, I call, or maybe email, but mostly call. I don't spend a lot of the time doing that, either, though. I contact someone to make plans, generally. Maybe I am weird, but I have an active social life, but it is generally with the same few people that I see on a regular basis and the talking we do in person is enough for me. It's nice that I reconnected with my 2 friends from college, but I have "hidden" my nieces' stuff on FB because it's absolutely inane. And one of my friends from AZ is so hooked on Farmville, that all of her posts are about that.
I like TE because i learn things, about cycling, and sometimes about other stuff. I just don't feel the need to be that connected to everyone I know. Maybe it's compassion fatigue from being in a helping profession, but when I go home, all I want to do is talk to my DH or occasionally my kids. I know most people would say I was friendly and social, it's just that I don't feel the need to say what I'm doing or to learn what others are doing on a constant basis. If I am going to grieve with someone, it's going to be in person or in a phone call... just my opinion and I guess I am in the minority.
Yea, and I'm the person who doesn't turn on her cell phone unless it's really necessary.

[NbyNW]

I was initially reluctant to get on Facebook but now I feel like it's a great way to stay in touch, since I seem to move to a new city every few years. If you're lucky enough to have a real face-to-face community in your life and you feel that FB is not for you, then good for you and you're probably not missing out on anything. But I have found that every time I move it takes time to build that local support network. And FB is a great way of NOT leaving that network behind, just because you happen to move far away.

I got roped in because a friend of mine was doing some fundraising and if she had x number of donations through FB there would be a matching donation. So I created an account and then did nothing with it for another three months.

Then my siblings (who are on the other side of the continent) got into my network, and other friends from the past. And initially I felt like I don't need this drain on my time, but after losing a childhood friend to leukemia a few years ago I now feel that it's kind of nice knowing that people I went to grade school with are out there doing good work and raising their families. And it's also fun reading the quirky thoughts of far-away friends instead of a Christmas letter that provides highlights but none of the essence of that friendship.

My professional association decided to start communicating with our membership on FB, and as part of the executive committee I had to sign up for the updates and then my professional world started to leak into my FB network. Being "friends" with professional colleagues can present some awkwardness, but I deal with that with privacy settings and being thoughtful about my posts.

[MomOnBike]

Put me in the pro-Facebook crowd. The rest of my family (DH excepted, of course) lives in other states. How else would I keep up with them? Yes, we could call, but we're busy. It's ALWAYS a bad time to call.

And not only family. I've reconnected with old friends. I had tried to look them up, but everyone's name was either Smith or Jones, with a few slightly less common names thrown in. I just had to make myself visible and hope they would look for me. Facebook made that possible.

You can hide a lot of those annoying Farmtown, etc. posts. That was about the first thing I learned to do.

[jobob]

... just my opinion and I guess I am in the minority.

Your opinion is perfectly fine and valid. It really doesn't matter if you're in a majority or a minority here. If you don't care for fb or twitter, heck, it's no skin off my nose.

I just chafe at the blanket generalization that was made earlier in this thread about people who don't happen to share that opinion. But I guess maybe it's a non-issue at this point.

[shootingstar]

My professional association decided to start communicating with our membership on FB, and as part of the executive committee I had to sign up for the updates and then my professional world started to leak into my FB network. Being "friends" with professional colleagues can present some awkwardness, but I deal with that with privacy settings and being thoughtful about my posts.

For work/professional related purposes, I might later. It's just enough to belong to listservs and staying current in terms of the latest developments through published sources with substantive articles. I'm also getting pulled into doing more formalized work related to cycling. I have reviewed some of the tweet links that some blogs and websites have posted, related to my profession and so far, it doesn't have powerful value just for professional updating. It might be different for meeting a client need with an urgent deadline or planning a workshop for a professional group.

Just for cycling, since my dearie runs a biz related to cycling, it's a bit freaky to see all his daily emails he gets being on multiple listservs. Because of his work he does need to respond to various folks, etc. I can't imagine FB added on top of all this.

Blogs can have value provided it is used as another technology platform instead of designing a website from scratch. Same rules apply: purpose, desired target audience, content regeneration frequency, etc.

[OakLeaf]

Aside from everything else that's already been said here six times...

Facebook is where the Park District posts which sections of the MUP are closed for maintenance, and when.

That oughta be enough for any TE'r.

[limewave]

After having DD and DS, I was starting to feel disconnected. I have to stay home with the kids while DH works late most nights and every Saturday. After I get the kids down for the night I get on FB and "visit" with my friends.

Yes, I could call a friend instead . . . and sometimes I do. But being on FB is like going to the local coffee shop or bar. A group of my friends are just about always online and we can chat, make plans, play games, etc.

I've reconnected with friends that I lost touch with over the years. In fact, I discovered new shared interests/hobbies with some people from HS. We started a running group and I've found more women to mountain bike with.

It's been really great for networking. I've gotten A LOT of work from old HS buddies that I've recently reconnected with.

Best of all, my mom and I play scrabble on FB the nights DH works late. I'll get the kids in bed, make a cup of hot cocoa and play a game with my mom.

[limewave]

My professional association decided to start communicating with our membership on FB, and as part of the executive committee I had to sign up for the updates and then my professional world started to leak into my FB network. Being "friends" with professional colleagues can present some awkwardness, but I deal with that with privacy settings and being thoughtful about my posts.

Not to add more complication . . . but I do know of people who have separate professional and personal FB accounts.

[SadieKate]

Yup, trail work parties, closed trail sections due to maintenance or fire, etc.

Calls for race support volunteers.

News feeds from USA Cycling.

Cycling group ride announcements.

Soooooo much better than having my inbox full of this stuff.

[hoffsquared]

I use FB to keep in touch with extended family and friends. It's been pretty nice. I've reconnected with several cousins over the past few months. Also to keep in touch (and tabs) on my daughter in college.

I also keep a family blog with an internet address that only my family knows and is not publicly searchable. They get an email every time I post. I was keeping family up to date via emails but they weren't as 'pretty'. The blog is working out really well 'cause I can add photos, links, and give a few more details than I might on FB.

Don't use Twitter.

[indigoiis]

FB is also a great way to network. A friend of mine posted that she was looking to move to Vegas and get a job, and I had a friend in her industry there, and asked her if my friend could contact her. Now they are fb friends - very cool!

My DH is not a facebooker, but he's on facebook. He has three "friends" - his mother, an old friend from high school, and me. I do the rest.