Somewhere along the line I began to use Facebook on a daily basis to stay in contact with my friends and family. While a lot of my friends are not on Facebook, I do have a fair amount of family and friends that are on Facebook. At first, I used the site mostly as something fun, and an easy way to stay in touch with people. However, my use has started to evolve to something meaningful in my life.
- It’s almost always the first place I go when I want to send a quick message to several of my friends at once. The messaging functionality is very easy to use and quick. All the messages are threaded and privately made in the confines of an inbox.
- I’ve started to use it to engage some of my friends in conversations about books I’m reading or about topics in the news. It’s easy to add links to sites and engage in a back and forth conversation about various topics. In fact, just tonight, I engaged in a rather short but educational discussion about Vladimir Putin with one person, and another discussion about an upcoming movie with a set of four friends.
- I have several family members (brother, aunt, cousins) with which I’m friends. Most of the family members I’m in pretty good contact with on a regular basis. However some of the cousins and my aunt, I rarely see and talk to even less. With Facebook, I feel like I’m getting to know them again, and we’re growing closer. They see what’s going on in my life both in words and pictures, and I get to see the same about them. It’s been fun to reconnect!
- With the status updates, I’m able to keep in touch with the goings on of my friends and family. It’s like I’m connected to them without the necessity of calling to hear the details about everyday goings on of my friends and family. If it’s something big or important, a quick message or phone call is easy to make. But the daily routine is interesting to see.
I’m thinking that use of Facebook and similar sites will continue to evolve. I see it as a very useful networking and marketing tool. It’s easy to see what someone is doing in a quick glance. With this constant information, my friends and family are able to remain at the forefront of my life. The same applies to business contacts with whom I’m friends.
So, if you’re on Facebook or thinking of joining, look me up. I’d be happy to add some friends!