I cringed today when a coworker told me she “doesn’t have time” for things like Facebook or hanging out on the Internet. Like hanging out on the Internet is a bad thing.
I blog enough about my family time, but I don’t talk much about my online time and my Internet relationships. I feel a need to confess something here.
I am addicted to the Internet. Seriously addicted. And not in a bad way, either.
Through social networking sites, I have reconnected to childhood friends. That in itself is a miraculous thing. Someone you knew and loved way back in second grade comes back into your life when you are in your 50’s and she’s every bit as funny and wonderful as the little girl you remember. I don’t mean just one person: there have been several. And every one of them has enriched my life this past year.
I joined social networking groups to keep in touch with my kids. It’s a great way to view baby photos, get the newest and latest video upload of the youngest grandson learning to say “da-da” (Kaci titled it, “Justin said his first swear word”). I need to get a camera and download Skype so we can really keep in touch.That is one of my New Year’s Resolution: Skype.
Most of my “friends” on Facebook are actually professionals who work in the same industry I do: real estate sales. I am not an agent, but my contacts are. I have formed some fast friendships within the company I work for just through Facebook. I put names to faces.
It is an amazing world, the Internet. I even have friends that I have made through Facebook or my blog, that have nothing to do with my “real life” – but we have something in common that brought us together through the Internet.
I think the most wonderful thing about it is that I can press a few keys and express myself eloquently (or as eloquent as I will ever get) and you all think I am a clever, friendly, open person when in reality – in real life – I stutter, stammer, and generally fall over myself in social ineptitude. I don’t talk on the phone if I can avoid it. The other wonderful thing about this media is this: you get the real me, not the facade. In real life, the persona you meet in the form of me is usually an act, someone I have to be for the moment. I rarely let my walls down.
But I am not just addicted to the social network site. I have a serious addiction to some online “lists” through Yahoogroups. I joined the lists when we got our very first computer, back in the mid 1990’s. 1997, I believe, but archives don’t go back that far. I have friends from all over the world through those lists, women (and some men) who would go to the ends of the earth for each other. When Arwen toured the United Kingdom, one of my online friends made a special trip to London to bring Arwen an enormous bouquet of fresh flowers for her 21st brithday. (Arwen hauled those flowers back to the USA, even through customs, all the way back home. they meant that much to her.)
I don’t keep up with the lists every day. One of them can be very very busy. But the people I have met through those lists have become incredibly dear friends. I have had the pleasure of meeting some of them in real life (some more than once).
The Internet has even brought to life my pen pals. in a cyber world, that is probably a surprising revelation. But I have two friends with whom I have corresponded for 40+ years (give or take a few months). I met them through some pen pal page in Western Horseman magazine and somehow we have managed to continue to correspond through the years. I’ve met one of them and spoken to the other on the telephone. But through Facebook, I have been able to get to know them on a day-to-day basis, not just whenever a letter comes. it is amazing.
I just needed to get that off my chest, especially since 2009 was the Year of Internet Reunions for me. I made some special friends through blogs, too (mine or theirs). Heck – I have a couple real life friends with whom I keep in touch through blogs or social networking on the Internet. The telephone is so passé.
Last (and totally unrelated) is my photo of the day which I simply incorporate into my blog):
The accidental pairing of a favorite pair of titanium earrings and my glasses, which happen to be the same colors).
Yep, I’m addicted too. In fact, this morning I did a search for “Junk Decorating” (I LOVE flea market decorating and actually have decorated this way my entire adult life – long before it was popular) and found 4 new blogs that I’m going to start reading every day.
LOVE the internet!
I’m a relative latecomer to the internet. I resisted it for as long as possible, knowing that eventually it would have to become a part of my life, and it did finally, through my job as a public librarian. All three of my grown children contributed to teaching me the basics, and when I knew enough, I struck out on my own.
I like the internet, but I can’t say I love it. When my computer was out of commission for two months a year ago, I felt liberated.
I’m a very private person, and signing up for Facebook was a thing I had to think about for a long time before I could finally bring myself to do it. And I decided to for all of the reasons you have stated, Jaci. Yet, at the same time, I feel that Facebook can be very superficial, and even a source of gossip for some people. It’s something that needs to be used and enjoyed with a bit of caution. I’ve read some things and seen some photos that have made me cringe! Thank goodness for Hide!
I allow myself a short window of time on the computer each day because I want to control it, and not the other way around. Two of my favorite things about being online is *jacidawn* (the only blog I follow), AND the warm, gray cat curled up on my lap the second I sit down, Gizmo. He LOVES the internet.
I have resisted cell phones for that reason. 🙂
You are right that Facebook can be a place for gossip and stupid statuses. Sometimes a little bit too much like high school – which is why I turn off people who post inappropriate statuses. I want my FB to look and sound professional because a lot of those “friends” are my coworkers & my many bosses (The Big Boss, the CFO, a couple Vice Presidents…)
Just because you’re “anonymous” on the Internet does not mean you should turn off your brain or civility.
Addicted and proud of it. 😉
Oh yeah, I’m addicted big time. And that “list” is the reason. It is where my best friends hang out. You included!