Facebook as the Source of Knowledge

So, for those of you who aren't facebook users, I'll give a brief explanation. www.facebook.com is pretty much the most popular social networking website for college-age people. It's pretty awesome in many ways. You create a "profile" and then you add "friends" from finding other people you know on the site. Then, you can post information about your life, pictures, videos, write comments to each other... it's so convenient, cause it's like having all of your friends in one place. And, you can set up your profile so that no one but your own approved friends can see your profile, which takes away that whole creepy internet stalker thing.

So, anyway, most college students, who have facebook, check it pretty frequently to see if their friends have updated their profiles, if they've gotten any emails, etc. Why would we care to look at other peoples' profiles? Because when you don't have time to individually call all of your spread-out friends across the world, facebook becomes your fountain of information about your friends' lives.

Let me demonstrate: Today, I found out that a good friend (who I dated a little while I was in Spain) is ENGAGED! Whoa! Definitely a surprise. I've found out about many a friend's relationship through facebook. Steve and Tanya from high school are getting married. Awesome! Thanks facebook! Even my own friends found out I was dating someone out here through facebook, and when I posted it on my profile, I got a flurry of messages on my "wall" ("Congrats!" "In a relationship? Oooh!" etc.) Now, for those who don't like this sort of attention, they keep their facebook profiles sparse. You don't have to post anything you don't want other people to see, including your picture. But, it's pretty fun to read other people's profiles and to look at their pictures. It was especially fun when I was in Spain and could see photos from all of our trips. It was an easy way to stay connected with people that I met and don't see on a regular basis.

I still love facebook, and I wish all of my friends had it (hint hint). It's just so convenient and a nice way to let people know what you're up to in your life (your job, pictures of good times, etc.), especially those you don't see often (like high school friends who live across the country). And it's really not creepy, unlike some websites. But, after finding out from facebook that a boy I dated (not too long ago) is ENGAGED, and I have no idea with whom, it made me realize how crazy it is sometimes that our source of finding these things out is the internet! Wow. The modes of communication are changing, folks.

That is all. :-)