I just got done going for a walk and bike ride so I figured
I might as well keep this productivity going! How do you go for a walk and bike
ride? Simple, just go for a bike ride, get tired, then walk your bike home. It
helps if you have a tail to put between your legs…
Well here’s the start of the new blog experiment for us. We’re
trying to get more blogs out there and hopefully keep the quality up there, or
I should say, get the quality up there…
What we will be doing is taking certain topics and writing
several different perspectives on that subject. There is about six of us who
are contributors to this blog, everyone isn’t exactly active, but we should be
able to get at least three of us to write on most subjects. Hopefully they’re
funny, but if they’re not at least you should be able to enjoy how terrible we
are at getting our points across and how little sense we generally make.
The first subject we are going to tackle is Facebook. We
were going to do a breakdown and compare and contrast the new Justin Halpern
book, “I Suck At Girls” but that will have to wait until the other guys finish
the book…me, I might as well have written it, or most of it! The following is
my take on the phenomenon that is Facebook…
A long time ago, at a college campus much like the one you
attended…
I first started using Facebook in 2004…I think. It wasn’t
exactly September 11th, or the day Kennedy was shot so I can’t
recall exactly where I was or what I was doing but being most my days consisted
of playing lots of basketball, partying, and skipping class in those days there
is a good chance I was hung over and was trying to figure out who that girl was
from that party. What girl and what party are also insignificant as you will
undoubtedly learn in upcoming blogs.
Facebook was cool, no doubt about it, and the best apart
about it; it was just for college students. When you turn 18 you can officially
vote, buy cigarettes, and gamble in many states…not exactly the greatest things
in the world, but Facebook became another one of these rights of passage and to
me seemed like an awesome way to keep in contact with high school classmates I
had lost contact with and kids from my courses which I would have met during
Syllabus day and then quickly lost contact with (due to lack of attendance) if
it hadn’t been for Facebook!
Sure Facebook was filled with creeps, but really where isn’t?
Myspace was the major competitor in those days but to me the major downfall was
that anyone could join myspace…I’m not positive but I’m pretty sure I married a
78 year old man on there at one point…you at least needed a valid college email
address to join Facebook back in the day. Now that exclusivity is gone, which
of course helped Facebook grow immensely but now I get friend requests from my
elementary basketball players, and I’m that 78 year old man all of a sudden.
There is certainly a million things I don’t like about
Facebook and I think most of you would agree but for the most part I still use
it to keep up with what my friends are up to, and more and more I am using it
for business. We now have a profile and company page for our business as well
as a group site for our charity organization…I know what you’re thinking, when
did I actually get my shit together…well I’m not totally there yet, but like
most people, I have my moments.
The ways you can now use Facebook for business are
unbelievable. It is by far the best method we have to advertise and keep our
customers up-to-date with whatever may be happening and it has helped build our
charity from very small to one that has now raised over $130,000!
I still am able to talk to friends and family all over the
world, follow certain organizations and personalities that interest me, and due
to a group I started several years ago, “I’d High Five The Todd” (from SCRUBS)
I am now friends with Robert Maschio, the actor who plays “The Todd.” The
random connections you can make on the site are really unbelievable, but like
most things, there’s an opposite side to the coin…
I now officially know everything about everyone, or at least
it seems that way. People I had always liked post some of the most ignorant
hate filled things on there so that now I often find myself appalled to even be
in the same room as them anymore. I now know when everyone is in a
relationship, and better yet, the standing of said relationship. Because of
this, we also know when said relationship has ended and as it is very easy to
get your feelings out there instantly, we know how, and many times why, things
didn’t exactly work out. I’m not saying that this is the worst thing, some
people just need a little support when they’re feeling like they’re at their
lowest point but long before Facebook there were…phones, and coffee shops, and
living rooms.
What makes matters worse is not only does everyone know what
you are doing at any given moment during your day (if you are an active member,
as most are since it is far more addicting than crack or heroine, a fact…which
I recently made up) but you know what everyone else is doing. I don’t want to
find out I didn’t get a job because I find out one of my random friends got it,
or worse yet that one of those friends was recently tagged in a photo with my
girlfriend in which they appear to be…doing something inappropriate. None of
this has actually happened to me, but it could easily as I’m not very
employable…or attractive.
As we continue to become more and more dependent on
electronics and communicating through them, we may lose contact with real relationships.
I finally did graduate from college (online, stupid hypocrite) my degree was in
Hospitality Management…I guess it still is, you can tell the writing thing isn’t
working out too well…I love talking to people, and generally I enjoy being
around them. I’m perfectly content being myself as well, but given the choice I
think I take people any day…even via Facebook.
A quick note on Pinterest…I’m not on the site but I’m pretty
sure it’s mostly used for recipes and craft ideas…Don’t we have Google for
that? I’m not a big recipe guy but if I want to make something and I’m not sure
how, I type what I want to make into Google and after reading the recipe…I make
it, and it’s awesome as I am tremendous cook/baker. Arts and Crafts? You should
see the picture my nephew and I colored the other day, or the barn we made out
of cardboard. You want to know how to make these? I’ll “Pin” it to you later…
The bottom line is that Facebook, like it or not, is very
addicting. We all know people who aren’t on Facebook and refuse to join…but
they’ll join…just give them a taste, the first ones free. That’s how they got
me…the 78 year old man you’re going to marry later…
Now to just post this to Facebook…
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