Monday, June 23, 2008

FaceSpace... SpaceBook... MyFace...

FaceBook.

Call it what you want, I call it my newest addiction.

My cousin Molly calls it the "gateway drug." (So funny, Molly!)

I swore I wasn't going to get sucked in to FaceBook or MySpace, but folks, I'm the proud owner of my own FaceBook page. I've got the Wall to prove it. I heard someone refer to blogging the other day as "Facebook for old people," so maybe I'm just trying to hang on to my youth. Who knows. It was my birthday last week. I'm getting older, you know.

But I must be kind of old because there are just some things about FaceBook I don't get.

First, why would you send someone virtual Ben & Jerry's? I ask the question being guilty of it myself. I've both received and sent virtual pints of Ben & Jerry's. After the first pint I received, I concluded two things: 1) a virtual pint is definitely not as good as the real thing and 2) the marketing ploy worked because within minutes of receiving that first pint, I was on my way to the freezer to get my ever-present pint of Phish Food. But you know, at least giving away virtual pints of Ben & Jerry's is free, and at least it shows you were thinking of a friend in one of the highest forms possible. So friends, keep on sending those virtual pints, I don't fault you for it at all. HOWEVER... what I really don't get is why people would pay actual, non-virtual money for virtual gifts. I love my friends, but I'm sorry. I'm not paying a dollar for a virtual balloon to show up on your Facebook page. I'm pretty sure you know I love you, virtual balloon or not.

Now let's talk about Facebook etiquette. Maybe I need to go read up on it, because surely, somewhere in the big wide world of Internets there's a tutorial on it. I'm just not sure if it's bad manners to not reply if someone writes on your wall, or to not poke someone back, or to not accept the 1,352 gifts or requests you get from people, or to not comment on every photo your friends post... seriously. Maintaining all 652 friends on Facebook could be a full-time job if you took it seriously enough. And at first, I was determined to keep my Facebook friends to actual friends that I have some sort of relationship with. That went out the window fast. Granted, it's fun to catch up with old friends who I haven't talked to in years, whether from high school or college or somewhere in between. But when I started getting friend requests from people I don't actually know... then it got weird for me. In every case (so far) they're at least a friend-of-a-friend-of-a-friend... but... I'm up for making new friends, but where do you draw the line? And do they know if you just choose to "ignore" them? It's starting to get stressful.

That said, if we're not "friends" yet... I promise to confirm your friend request. (Can you imagine if we gave each other friend requests in real life? Yes, you can. It was called junior high. "Will you be my friend? Check yes or no.")

And really, what's the point of checking everyone's status 37 times a day? I'm totally guilty of doing it, and yet I can't really figure out what good it's doing me. But I... can't... stop. I can tell you that Amber gave her kids popsicles at 10:00 this morning, and that Dena went to VBS this morning and that Michelle (who needs a blog) had an unfriendly reunion with her treadmill this morning, but don't ask me what time my husband is coming home tonight, because I haven't had time to call him amidst all of this status checking. I update my status because I think it was part of my Facebook contract, but really, I can't figure out many things interesting enough to update. "Angie is making PB&J for her kids... again." "Angie is emptying the diaper pail." "Angie is peeling her sunburn." And yet, I've seen more mundane things. (Oh, time to update my status... be right back. Or, BRB in Facebook chat lingo.)

Speaking of Facebook chat, I've learned it's a great way to get to know people better, catch up with friends, and go to bed well past a reasonable hour.

But, let's get down to the brass tacks. I've admitted it before, and I'll say it again. Friends, shmends... I'm on Facebook for the games. I'm a WordNerd. I've got the Scrabulous application, the Word Twist application, I've got Scramble and I've got Pathwords. I admitted to a friend the other day that I get a little downcast when I log in and don't have a game waiting for me. So, while I'd like to blame the warm weather and busy-ness of summer for my blogging inconsistency lately, I blame the silly word games on Facebook. I justify my addiction by saying that I'm learning and stimulating my mind. While this might be true, it's not justifying why my housecleaning has fallen by the wayside or why I'm way behind on commenting on blogs I love or feeding my children nutritious meals.

And okay, I'm not on it JUST for the games. It really is fun to have another way to connect with friends. I guess sometimes I just wish we were connecting in real life and sharing that pint of Ben & Jerry's with two spoons, you know? So, I'll quit complaining and being so cynical. Just come on over with a pint of Phish Food and two spoons, and I'll pull out my Scrabble board. I'm not worried... I can kick your butt just as well in real life.

17 comments:

  1. Oh my gosh...you didn't just throw down a Scrabble challenge, did you? Sweet little Angie?!?

    I'm laughing SO hard right now.

    You are a riot.

    I haven't discovered Facebook. I'm too addicted to blogging, and I DO NOT need anything else in my life that I might become addicted to!

    ReplyDelete
  2. I'm too scared to play word games with you, but I'd love to share a pint of icecream....THAT I'm good at. :-) I like the IM'ing part of Facebook, we've had some good chats there. :-)

    ReplyDelete
  3. ok, you have gone tooooo far. Addicted to Facebook, how could a mother of small children completely ignore her motherly and wifely duties to see if she has received any new friend notifications? Oh wait, you just check people's status, I'M the one looking for new friend notifications!!!!!! :)
    I'm totally addicted. In fact, when you mentioned FB in your previous post, I immediately tried to find you!!!!
    Do you know how many Angie O's there are on FB?!
    Cheryl Holton Adams, if you choose me I promise I won't ignore your request!!! :)

    ReplyDelete
  4. First of all...happy belated birthday! Second...laughing about the Facebook dilemmas. I know what you mean about friend-of-a-friend stuff. I just don't accept. At first I tried to be "nice" but it got just annoying. They can't post on your wall anyway if the get mad about it! Funny stuff, Angie!

    ReplyDelete
  5. I could have wrtten this same post myself! My addiction is BAD! But I do have one thing to say about the virtual pints of Ben & Jerrys...virtual love-handles are better than real ones!! :) Amen?

    ReplyDelete
  6. oh yeah...and whos's winning at Scrabulous??? Hmmm? :) I accept your challenge!! :)

    ReplyDelete
  7. I love so many things about this post, I can't even begin to comment appropriately.

    The more I "hang out" with you on FB, the more I wish I really could show up with the pint of B&J and sit down with you in person. And for the record, I always enjoy your status updates. :)

    ReplyDelete
  8. I discovered Facebook about nine months ago...it started out the same way as you've descibed it happening with you....I even said that I was just on it for the scrabulous....you know mind stimulation....at my age you count everything.....but then my daughter had another baby, my one son spent a week in jail, another son, in the army was waiting to see if he was deployed,another daughter lost her job and had to move back home, and on it goes, real life, and Facebook took a back seat....I also discovered blogging and reading other blogs, like yours and found that a lot more interesting then FB! So, I guess I was in it and now mostly out...unless my email tells me that someone wants to be my friend!

    ReplyDelete
  9. You have me cracking up right now. You MUST go to my blog and watch my facebook video - you will love it.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Oh Angie, you always make me laugh! :) Amen, sister!
    My new addiction: Challenge Sudoku. Thanks to you, Michelle & others. I have never played before and everyone is kicking my you-know-what but it's a good challenge for my mind. And, it definitely keeps me up waaaay past my bedtime.
    Oh, and I loooove the status updates. I think it's a good way to keep in touch with our friends since every time I pick up the phone to call someone my kids take that as a cry for my attention. It keeps me sane somehow knowing others out there are doing mundane things like me.
    OK, I'm writing my own blog post now... sorry!

    ReplyDelete
  11. Apparently I really need to get into Facebook!

    ReplyDelete
  12. What is bad is I have started think of my life is Facebook status updates! Sarah is feeling like she needs to go to the bathroom......Sarah is so happy she made it to the bathroom......Sarah wishes she could go to the bathroom alone........Sarah is saying oh no I am out of toilet paper.
    And so on, all day long I am in a giant status update.

    ReplyDelete
  13. You have Scrabulous!?!? I was so excited when I found that on there! But my excitement fizzled pretty fast. I could only convince two of friends to play with me, and they only made one move before forgetting about it. I tried everything from nudging them to sending real life text messages demanding they continue our game, but the slackers kept putting it off for things like homework. I fully intend to log onto my Facebook and start a new game with you upon completion of this comment.

    ReplyDelete
  14. Ok, so I tried to follow through on my previous declaration, but I forgot that for some reason I can't view that Scrabulous page from my work computer. SO, for the sake of not looking like a pansy that makes idle threats then backs out on a good Scrabulous challenge, I am hereby postponing my acceptance of your challenge. Bring it on...momentarily.

    ReplyDelete
  15. I used to say I am a baseball widow (or football, basketball, hockey, golf, etc) but now I guess my kids are Facebook orphans! "Mommy are you done yet?"

    ReplyDelete
  16. I just happened across your blog and had to say I am with you, sister! Facebook is a huge timewaster in my life, but I love it. :) I could seriously play the games for hours. Sometimes I am up at 1:30 in the morning, bleary-eyed, and trying to pull myself away. Why do we do this to ourselves???

    Your blog is awesome! :)

    ReplyDelete

Thanks for visiting! And thanks a bunch for commenting!

LinkWithin

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...