Miscellaneous Thoughts about Facebook

Facebook. A few weeks ago I had made up my mind that I was leaving Facebook for good. There were several good reasons to do so. One of which was my own inability to be disciplined about my use. In all honesty, I did not need to be checking posts 50 times a day. So, I left. I deactivated my account. A couple of weeks later I heard that a friend's son had been in the hospital. The day I heard was Monday; he had been admitted on Saturday. That was enough to push me back to the Facebook world. My time away did a few things for me. First, it allowed me to think about my reactions to things I would read and my motives for getting on Facebook. Second, it broke me of the "check it 50 times a day" habit. Third, it revealed that I can really live without it.

Today, I found out about a good friend who was in the hospital in a serious condition. I have been able to stay in touch with friends who really do care about our family and encourage me to grow in Christlikeness; I have deleted a few people; and I have enjoyed connecting with "old friends" and new friends.

I do believe that Facebook tends to define many of our relationships; occastionally I say or hear "they are 'Facebook friends.'" Another post about relationships another day!

My goal for Facebook is not to record our family history. I do not want to tell my children to "go on Facebook" to learn about our family. The art of journal composition and handwritten letters is quickly diminishing. That is something that I have tried to work on personally. I don't write as often as I should, but I do try to write occasionally; and the good old letter in the mail. Just this past week I have contemplated writing again. Letters. I fear much of our history will be lost one day if we don't write things down. Not that blogs, Facebook and technology aren't helpful. But what if the internet ever crashed or we didn't have access? I think often about printing out posts and putting them in a notebook. I really should do it as I go, but I don't. Maybe tomorrow. It is one of those projects that is in the "future ideas" list that really should be placed near the top!

So, these are my Facebook/letterwriting/journal thoughts for tonight. In the time it took me to type this post I could have written a letter....