Wednesday, October 08, 2008

Say what you want, but I am loving Facebook...

You may love it, hate it or just ignore it, but I love it...

I moved around ALOT between birth and college, and there are folks from many different times in my life I wanted to get back in touch with. Holy crap! Facebook has been like Classmates on steriods. 223 friends in about 3 - 4 weeks now... from all the way back to elementary school...

School friends, work friends, college friends, now friends, blog friends... dang, y'all... it's been crazy... I have it setup to notify my phone when I get a message or update, which means I can respond by mobile... I'm likin' it... Even had dinner with a couple of old friends that I reconnected with who now live closeby. Dang, y'all... did I say I'm lovin' it?

J/

29 comments:

Stephanie said...

I think I have a facebook account, but haven't been on since I set it up. I have heard great things about it though.

HM said...

I feel this way about Myspace. Facebook is so dang confusing to me! It's so nice to catch up with old friends!

Kim from Kansas said...

I came across this list just yesterday and totally agree with #5 about size. I have had people I don't even know ask to be a friend...not gonna do it.

houstonmacbro said...

It's funny, I have a FB account and really like it. It is a bit more mature than MySpace and doesn't have the same seedy reputation.

But, I never understand why people on Facebook don't just use REGULAR email instead when they want to send a simple message.

What's up with that?

tiarastantrums said...

i like it too - but I can never find anyone I know!

GypsiAdventure said...

I'm with you...I love it. Facebook is so different from Myspace, but I enjoy them both...lets not forget twitter though, I like being able to chat with everyone too!
~K

GoteeMan said...

The way I have found people is by clicking on a school name, etc. which takes you into the friend finder for that location/group... then you can choose a year, and browse...

after you find several, a bunch more start finding you...

It has a real-time chat feature as well, plus messaging (Private) and wall (public)... great photo tool, groups, networks, etc.

I'm biased, yeah, I know it...

Heidi said...

Wow. I have a MySpace acct. My problem is that I can't remember people. I am one of "those people."

kimmy said...

I'm lovin' Facebook too. My sister got me hooked. Between Facebook, my blog, ebay and the internet...I never leave the computer!!!!

I might need an intervention soon!

Kimmy

Bogart said...

I recently discovered it and I am not sure if I love it or am disgusted by it.

People from HS that I don't remember keep wanting ot be my friends...there is something wrong with that, right?

Jen said...

So it's not just for kids anymore? :P

houstonmacbro said...

If y'all like Facebook, you will love this alternate browser called FLOCK (try it at http://www.flock.com). It is known as a social networking browser and has a LOT of features made for social networking and Facebook particularly. It think it's built on AOL or Firefox base so it shares your bookmarks and such and is relatively speedy to be so feature-rich.

jill jill bo bill said...

I signed up for FB like 2 yrs ago and just got back on. I have found some of my friends from HS but most of my friend requests are from my adult kid's friends. Thanks, but no thanks. I REALLY don't want to know what my 21 year old son drank at the last party.

Thanks for visiting me today!

AutoSysGene said...

Dang y'all, I'm glad your enjoying it. Facebook? Not so much for me...

Krystyn @ Really, Are You Serious? said...

Well, aren't you Mr. Popular? Just kidding. It's nice to catch up with old friends...I just can't get into it...I won't let it draw me in!

tiarastantrums said...

Thanks Mr Man - I will try that out!

GoteeMan said...

Well, like they say, "There's a butt for every seat", so I guess Facebook is my seat...

I understand the issues those of you who hate it/can't get into it have... but for me, it's been a great connection tool, once I figure out how to get going and find friends with it... I was frustrated with Classmates (been paying too much for years, and finding few old friends), and Myspace just slammed my IM and other ID's with crap messages...

I guess that's why there are so many different ones - so we can all find our happy place ;-D.

Nuttin but love foya, my bloggy friends...

J/

GoteeMan said...

Oh, and Krystyn, you bring up a good point... it's easy for any of these crazy things to become black holes... sucking up our time and energy from really living ITRW... that's why sometimes, when it gets too nuts, I just gotta take a break from all of it...

Blessings and peace to y'all..

J/

GoteeMan said...

And yep, Kim, I have turned away some that I really didn't want to reconnect with. There is nothing wrong with that - just like screening your caller ID... If I don't want the connection, I don't accept...

J/

GoteeMan said...

Now I am rambling on... but still...

I moved around ALOT... I've always developed friendships in all those places that last, but then we lost touch over the years - just get busy, or move again, and before the online stuff, I had no idea how to find them... it has just been awesome to reconnect with friends, where both of us wanted to find the other, but didn't have a good way before now...

We are now at the age where parents may have passed on, or moved, etc. and that makes it harder to follow the old traditional route for finding each other...

nite y'all... I'm toast...

J/

Thomas said...

I've not joined the Facebook train yet, but thanks to this post, I might just give it a try.

Stephanie said...

I could just never get into it. I had an account for awhile and then deleted it. I do have a myspace though but rarely get on. It's for keeping in touch too. I'm not hip anymore! :)

dudette77 said...

Jeff, I agree completely...I've found so many people that reunion.com and classmates.com could not. It is also a good link to my piano students. I don't know why it is easier to drop a message on facebook than it is to drop an email, but it is.
Lovin it!!!

Stephanie said...

I haven't done either MySpace or FB. I have gone on and searched for people, but never find who I'd want to reconnect with. Is there a difference in who uses which according to age?

GoteeMan said...

LinkedIn is more for business contact. I have found some there, and found associates of associates, etc. where I know someone from a working situation or know where they work or what they do for a living, etc. Basic is free, or you can become a member for more detailed service. Also a way of building an online set of referrals, and a business network.

Classmates is a fee service to be able to really use it. $35 or $39 a year for Gold Membership. Look up friends by school & year, employer, etc. I have found some here, but it doesn't seem to be really active. I can leave a message for someone and not hear for like 3-12 months.

MySpace is free and has a wide age range. I have a myspace page, but didn't really go far with it. Found a few there, but it was more anonymous and more impersonal to me, but that may just be because I didn't really promote it or take it very far. I just didn't have the patience, and it is alot more anonymous on the whole, when I was looking to personally connect with people I know, but may not know their married name or enough specifics to find them on myspace.

I have friends/relatives/etc. on Facebook from 12 to 68. There are alot more college age on there than anything, but I was really surprised at the 30's-50's crowd. It took me a while to learn the best ways to find people, though... wasn't all that intuitive, and they made some changes along the way that were painful/big changes. I have now settled into the new format, so I know where to find stuff now.

Flickr is cool for posting photos and comments on the photos.

Snapfish is a great place to upload photos and purchase prints of them for as little as 8 cents each.

Twitter is very active and somewhat anonymous. I can see the attraction, but it's a little too busy for me personally.

Each to their own... I guess it depends on what style you like, what you want to use it for, etc.e

I subscribe to all the above, but only really use Snapfish, Flickr, Facebook, LinkedIn (for business contacts) and Classmates (occasionally, to make sure I get my messages).

J/

houstonmacbro said...

J that's a good rundown of the services. I have accounts on just about all the ones you mentioned, but really only use Facebook. I like Flickr, but since my email is on Google (Gmail) I tend to just use Picassa Web for most picture needs. Linked in, have one too ... but it tends to be less social and more connective. Like, "I know you, you know me, but we'll keep this connection on paper only."

LOL

Anonymous said...

Isn't facebook crazy ADDICTIVE?? LOL I love it too. :-)

Sunshine said...

I'm totally loving facebook too.

Julie said...

I enjoy facebook, too!