Facebook relations

So, FB (for me) is moving beyond just a networking tool for our Mom's group to plan picnics. Since joining a few months ago, I've rediscovered old college and high school friends, and it has been a blast!

There have been some weird moments too, when old acquaintances that you really never hoped to see again reach out to you. The Ignore button strikes me as too passive a response in some cases, and in others it seems too direct.

In the last few weeks, I've reconnected with nieces, nephews, and in-laws a continent away. The 3-hour time difference makes connecting by phone tricky, as one coast or the other is always sleeping, eating, or getting ready for work. Despite good intentions, months and months go by between contact. With FB, suddenly little daily trivia about their days are lined up on my screen. I don't always have a witty comment, but it provides a window for me to peek through. I can find out about the water balloon fight, see recent pictures, and tell if someone's life is getting busy by their absence online.

What is really funny is the difference in types of posts based on life stage. They range from lots of online personality quizzes for the teens, to beer and hockey for the 20-somethings. My 40-something single friends probably put up the most interesting posts--they travel, follow world events, and get politically active.

My posts are mostly about my kids and family life--scintillating reading, I am sure!

In 30 years, I wonder what the newest incarnation of social networking will look like? (brain implants, like Star Trek's Borg?) I also wonder what my minivan-driving friends and I will all be posting about when the kids are grown and gone. Will it all be AARP and social security? Who will I discover myself to be underneath all the family routine that I mostly blog/post about now?

No doubt each generation will still be rolling their eyes at the banal postings of the other, regardless.

And yet, it is still lovely to see that profile picture, and feel that all these friends and family are just a click away. It may even remind me to pick up the phone on the weekend and call somebody!