Ah, Facebook! A sociologist / internet junkie, I’m totally obsessed with the thing because it combines two of my (many) loves: technology and interpersonal relationships.
In the past couple of weeks, I’ve reconnected with several people who I never thought I’d see again. Thankfully, of course. So, in high school, I wrote articles from the newspaper and yearbook, right? The photographer? Just friended me on Facebook. Now, he’s a big shot lawyer at a downtown Chicago firm. So, I went to college, right? I spent a year living and studying in Los Angeles. The roommate of that girl who had the friend who lived in that dorm? She googled me and found my blog and Facebook. I hadn’t seen her in ages!! She’s a mother now, and we’re talking about a possible visit — either me to LA or her to NYC — soon.
Oh, yeah, and that time I lived in Amsterdam? I just Facebook friended this Canadian guy I knew from back in the day. Follow me on that one? He lived in Canada. I lived in the US. Years ago, we became friends when we lived in Holland at the same time. Now, I’m back in the US. He’s back in Canada. But, out of the blue, we’re instantly reconnected via a website. What’s more? By looking at his Facebook photo albums, I automatically know what he’s done and where he traveled since I last saw him. I also know that he’s in a relationship. He’s married. I’ve not met his wife (they live in Canada), but I’ve seen her face all over his Facebook. Man, that site totally fascinates me. That’s all I’ve gotta say for today. If any of you have any thoughts or crazy stories about people you’ve “found” on Facebook, free to leave them in the comments section.
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Shout out: Thanks for the YouTube clip, Andrea!
Shout out: If you’re an FBC reader, Facebook friend request me. Please fill in “We met on an oil rig, and we were lovers for 50 years!!!” in the “how did you meet” section. ;)
{ 14 comments… read them below or add one }
I agree that Facebook does allow you to connect with people you’ve completely fallen out of touch with, but its new feature “People You May Know [but are possibly hiding from]” totally bugs me out. Anyway, generally, Facebook is way cool. People I know now have kids, have gotten married, moved far and away… Loads have gotten mad fat, others way thinner, got jobs, live at home… It’s making me feel less of a need to attend my ten year high school reunion. :-)
I’m able to keep up with my old friends in Japan, from uni, back home. It’s great. Until people that made high school hell for you go adding you to their friend’s list and asking “what’s up?” Deny, deny, and deny. Ah Facebook… oh how I love/hate thee! And the new chat function — yet another thing to distract me from actually getting any work done. Anyway, cute post, love the youtube clip.
Best!
Your blog ate my last comment on the interracial dating post so I’m hoping this one goes through.
I have yet to be found by anyone on facebook that I only vaguely remember. But then again I’m only 25 and I haven’t really been anywhere so that’s not all that surprising. I did however friend a lot of people that I have lost touch with. I will admit to taking some pleasure in finding out some of the people I envied when I was younger are now not so beautiful or well off. I’ve creeped a lot of peoples pages just to see that they’re up to. I try to keep my facebook pretty plain. However I know if anyone found my old defunct blog that would probably be really bad. I should probably just delete it completely. But I like to go back and read it sometimes….pretend like I might want to blog again.
Meh.
If I had any friends in high school I’d probably love this sort of thing, but as it stands there’s nobody who’d remember who the heck I am. Would be nice if I were kidding. It’s hard out here for a bird.
I LOVE FB TOO!! WHICH IS WHY I ADDED YOU LAST WEEK. SECRET: MY ENTIRE REASON FOR JOINING WAS BECAUSE THIS GUY THAT I CRUSHED ON IN COLLEGE WAS ON THERE! WEAK!!! I KNOW. WHAT’S EVEN WEAKER? HE HAS NEVER UTILIZED HIS ACCOUNT. BOOOO.
APPARENTLY MEN ALL OVER THE WORLD HAVE VIEWED ME THROUGH FB’S “SPARK” APPLICATION. THERE ARE TWO DUDES HOT ON MY TAIL: ONE CUTIE IN VIENNA, THE OTHER IN ALBANIA. BUT THE DUDES IN LOS ANGELES???? NO PLAY! Damn them! LOL! SORRY FOR THE MINI RANT…MAYBE I’LL BLOG ABOUT FACEBOOK, NEXT.
@ Nicole: Oooh, Japan??? Do tell!
@ Grace: Sorry my blog ate your comment. :( And, yeah, I soooo know what you mean about creeping people’s FB pages. :) I’m quite a snoop. :)
@ Baba Doodlius: I went to my high school reunion a short while back, and I was surprised how many people I remembered and how many people remembered me. It was like I felt sucked back into the time warp. It was pretty cool, but I only stayed a hour or so and then I left.
@ Haute in LA: That is sooooo not weak. I would’ve done the same thing! :) Viennese cutie? Sounds like fun. I’ve never done the “spark” stuff. I’m kind of ODed on applications.
That video was hilarious.
I’d railed against Facebook and other social sites for the longest time, refusing to join. I just wasn’t comfortable with people having that kind of round-the-clock access to me.
But I caved in and I’m glad.
For one thing, I found so many of my high school friends, some of my favorite people in the whole world.
Secondly, I’m horrible when it comes to the phone. I hardly answer my phone, don’t check my messages, don’t return phone calls. But when someone hits me up electronically, I respond to that. I suppose I just find it easier. And so in that respect, not only have I reconnected with old friends, I feel better equipped to hold on to my current ones.
Haute in LA: I thought FB was Funky Brown until I read further into your comment! Silly me. Guess you can tell I’m NOT on Facebook.
YAWN.
@ Desiree: Yeah, I’m waaay more likely to answer e-contact than phones.
@ Pegs: Okay, I soooooo made that mistake, too!!!! :) I was like, “Awwwww, baby, you love the FB? THANKS!” Then I kept reading and I was like, “Oh, yeah, right, FACEBOOK. Yeah, um, I knew that. Oops!”
@ boredreader: You seem tired. Get some sleep, babes! ;)
Yep. Japan. I spent 15 months there after I finished uni. Facebook has made me a little lazy, though… I’ve been slacking on sending out my quarterly mass email. I figure, eh, I can see everyone I knew on Facebook so why bother writing a long email.
Anyway, I totally hated living there for reasons that are beyond difficult to describe. Reading Natsuo Kirino’s Grotesque could shine a little light on it. I want to move to Europe, but I’m still trying to work out the how-in-sam-hill-am-I-gonna-get-a-visa thing. In the meantime, I’m cooling my heels in New York and waiting on school to start up again. Harder than it may appear.
Oh, I forgot.
TO GRACE**
I’m 25, too. There’s no reason not to go anywhere. Be like Nike, and JUST DO IT, DOLL!!!
@ Nicole: Going somewhere requires dollars. Which back when I came home from university 4 years ago I didn’t have. I actually had the opposite a huge debt and a non marketable degree (BA Psych! Woohoo!) Now that have some money I probably could go gallivanting around the world. But of course now I’m all rooted here what with work and school (Chef school this time – much more useful). I think I may have missed my window to be a carefree globetrotter. Which is ok. I’ll just try to take lots of exotic vacations to make up for it.
Or maybe when I finally have enough money I’ll just buy a house in another city, and move far away from Toronto…..just because I can.
@ Funky Brown: You should have seen my comment it was all witty with a ‘milk in my coffee’ allusion and stuff. But after the blog ate it I was like ‘MAN! I don’t want to type that all again. But it was really good…..Oh foo!’ Going forward I’m going to be all paranoid and copy my comments before I press submit.
@ Nicole: As long as you’re under 35, there are a bunch of “work abroad” and “volunteer abroad” programs and stuff. Check ‘em out.
@ Grace: I’ve lost sooo many comments (and blog posts!). Now, I copy everything before hitting “submit.”
Hey Grace — When I graduated, I didn’t have a dime. All I had was college debt. I knew that I had to pay my bills while abroad, so I took a job teaching ESL in Japan. Travel with income. College debt — under control. All traveling around that — I’m such a backpacker. Some of my co-workers in Nippon :-p told me about Couch Surfing. It’s a site that connects backpackers to backpackers. You can sleep on their couches for free when you roll through town. Pretty cool. So you can hit up the grocery store (save on food) stash in the borrowed fridge. Be polite, clean, and keep the stay to a week or less. Bam! You’re a traveler. Traveling and living abroad isn’t only for the rich and debtless, you know. Traveling is like dating. Use your head and trust your instincts and you can go anywhere. I never give advice, and that certainly looks like advice. :-p
FBC — I know about those programs, however, I’d like to work in my soon to be respective field and stay for A LONG TIME. Like 3 – 5 years. Maybe never return. My options are looking like corporate sponsorship or marriage. I’ll worry over it again when I’m out of school again. I don’t really want to wait tables in London or anything when I could be designing in Milan.