There probably aren’t many of you that haven’t heard of Facebook by now, especially if you are between the ages of 14-25. However, there are a startling number of us adult ‘tweeners hooked up on Facebook.
By the way, adult ‘tweeners are those of us that are okay with saying goodbye to the prime of our youth, because we are happy in what we know to be the prime of our lives. The time that is rich with ‘if I knew then what I know now’, usually followed by an all-knowing, wisdom filled chuckle.
But it’s also a time when some of us reflect on those relationships that meant so much to us when we were younger, when we thought we had responsibilities. Yes, if I knew then, what I know now.
Anyway – these friendships were the ones that know all your little kid secrets. Some of these friends were the pals that you smoked your first and only cigarette with, or even the ones that helped you home the first time you got drunk at their house. In any case, they were close, forever kind of friends that I’ll bet you’re thinking of right now, because you have no idea where they are.
Enter Facebook. This creation by Harvard students has now taken 6 Degrees of Hey I Know You to new, frenzied, obsessive heights. But it’s also helped me find a couple of those really great pals I had when I was growing up. One of the great things – unlimited photo storage is allowing me to scan old pictures. I mean really old pictures with us in our hair-feathering 15-year-old glory.
It started out innocently enough. Roxie told me about a cool place to find old friends. I only keep a blog, so I thought I’d check it out. I signed up and immediately added Roxie as my first ‘friend’. I had one friend. I was so excited. But Roxie already had about twelve friends. I was envious, and immediately wanted more friends.
I started typing in names of people I knew in the area. Then my search expanded to my home town, my high school and college. It’s less than six months later and I now have more than 50 friends listed. My husband is on Facebook and I can send him little flirty gifts. Mom is on Facebook now, so I can jot quick notes or put pictures on her ‘wall’. It’s almost like I’m there to mess up her house in person.
The number of friends keeps climbing, and a steady ‘Mini Feed’ tells me what every one of them is doing, through their wall posts and photos. It’s like my own personal reality show, starring people I actually care about.
But now it’s getting bad. I’ve added Chip to “Dogbook”, and Wick has her own profile on “Catbook”. And I think it’s cute. Seriously, somebody help? You can reach me at www.facebook.com, under Joyce Russell-Menyasz.
