MY PLEA TO PLAY: FACEBOOK

The New Now - mobile, telegenic, tele-transported, tele-networked. And yet... I have had several recent and intriguing conversations with friends and acquaintances - parents, professionals, pathological communicators - and I am just amazed how many are NOT tele-connected! That is, they aren't on Facebook! Is it me, she who used her parenting therapy group last Fall as a stage for confession during the discussion about how much is too much for our kids - I stood (unbidden -- who among them didn't confess, I still wonder): "I am a Facebook Fanatic!" I confessed with raised Blackberry in hand, yes, Facebook is my homepage.

I do not go so far as to say that Facebook is where I live, but those of you who meet me there know that my profile picture is not infrequently lit green to say "I'm here" when you sign on. I don't always type back when you attempt to chat (and I know you don't either), but there's something about seeing other lit-up profiles that makes me feel a little closer to home - even when the lit-up face is someone I have only met once. We are friends, nonetheless.

When my children were babies, I'd have them up in Maine in summer, weeks at a time. I'd look out my upstairs window and see kitchen lights in the distance. I was up at midnight for a final feeding - and someone else was up, too. That's sort of how the green light below profile pictures on Facebook makes me feel. Not alone, not too far away.

I just Googled: "Facebook, concerns". The volume, overwhelming, and I could have written each diatribe and its rebuttal. Instead, I'll take the opportunity to fall back on the great words of a sage of our generation, Lindsey Lohan: "My motto is to live everyday to the fullest - in moderation." Um, what?

Here's where I am on Facebook, my last words before I email around this post (so it hits my most fervently anti-Facebook following). If there is a clear and definable reason for your use of Facebook, write it here. And if you haven't caved, answer accordingly - what would be a perfect tool for this new age, the New Now?




Was your response easily articulated? Live it and love it, join me here in the New Now.

Facebook is my bridge to all the lives I've left behind me. It's how I get my music (WFUV) and my news (the New York Times). It's where I hear from my favorite personalities (Brian Lehrer on NPR and Clotilde Dusoulier of Chocolate & Zucchini) and watch my favorite TV shows (The Big C). I know you all better because of Facebook, and when we see eachother again in person, we'll have so much more time for fun as we've never actually lost touch.



















Just a couple good ones popped up recently on my Facebook page - thanks Kersten and Susie!