Online JCOM Reading 3

I was reading this article on Facebook and I have to say, I got halfway through it and burst out laughing. It was real LOL too not just the lol you type when you know somebody is expecting it, I actually Laughed Out Loud. In this article a woman is talking about how her daughter has Facebook and the woman weighs the pros and cons to this.

One con she points out is what my friends and I like to refer to as Facebook stalking. My group of friends from high school and I will get together and gossip over all of the drama going on with people we haven’t talked to since graduation and yet we all feel as if we know every detail in their love life. We talk about who is engaged and whether the guy is cute. We’ve never even met the guy but we know he is probably worthy of her since he’s going to BYU and will graduate in 2010, he’s majoring in Chemistry and seems to have a lot of cool friends. This may be a bit of an extreme example but I know it’s not just us who do it. A girl I have worked with maybe three times is my Facebook friend and she told me she saw pictures of my trip to Seattle last summer and asked how it was, and I was not creeped out one bit, chalk one up to Facebook.

This mother also talks about how ‘friend’ has become a verb because of Facebook. I have been asked how to spell my name so someone can ‘friend’ me. I knew what they meant, who wouldn’t? Though if you don’t know how to spell my name I would wager we aren’t really that close. I’ve also noticed ‘Facebook’ becoming a verb as well. I’ll take a picture of my friends and they’ll insist I ‘Facebook’ it. The mother in this article seems to think this is a negative part of Facebook but I think it’s just part of our language evolving.

My mom recently got a Facebook and yes I am friends with her, I love my mom! But she absolutely loves it. She found a Facebook group with tons of her friends from over 20 years ago in it. She thinks it’s an amazing way to keep in touch. I think the pros of Facebook far outweigh the possible cons. I can write a ‘hey, how you doing?’ on my friends wall. A day or so later I will have a short update on her life. Though it is not the only way to keep in touch, it is convenient for people you care about but were never super close to.

I say embrace Facebook and any other type of social networking group. Yes it can get you fired if you are stupid, so don’t be stupid. Yes people can post too much info, so don’t be one of those people. Facebook is not a place to jot down your innermost secrets but a fun way to keep in touch.