Potluck #55: Facebook

Ah, Facebook. I've been on Facebook since my very last semester as an undergrad. That was when it had just barely started and was only open to college students. (Sometimes I think it should have remained that way.)

I've been on Facebook for several years, but I rarely use it. It's kind of funny, really. I think that because I was leaving college right as it was beginning, I missed out on the key period of my life when having Facebook would have been crucial to my social life. ("Crucial.") My brothers are all younger than I am, and all 3 of them are addicted to Facebook. I'm not sure 2 of them could go a day without checking. I, on the other hand, log on once every couple of weeks to sort through friend requests and delete all those pesky application invites.

Based on all of that, it's not shocking that I learned a thing or two from this post. For instance, I had no idea that Twitter could connect with Facebook. I thought the Facebook statuses were something completely separate. They are, but they can also be your Twitter update. That's kind of cool. If I cared at all about Facebook, I probably would link the two.

Despite rarely getting on Facebook, I do have a few applications loaded. My favorites are definitely Flair (because who doesn't love a button?) and SuperPoke (for when you just really need to chunk a sheep at someone). Flair is kind of addictive. On the rare occasions that I do get on, I always end up sifting through flair, seeing if someone has added new flair for my favorite tv show, actor, animal, movie... It's so fun!

So I may not be the dictionary entry for an obsessive Facebook user, but I do appreciate it enough not to delete my account. I have people friend me that I haven't seen since elementary school. People I was friends with for a year before moving out of state. When someone really obscure finds me, it's fun to get a peak into the kind of life they ended up having. For that alone, I'll continue to remain on Facebook - peripherally!