Facing a new addiction

Facebook can be quite a time-suck.

Back at the end of May, I joined this online internet “social network” phenomenon that exists to “…help you connect and share with the people in your life.” I’m nothing if not cutting edge hipness.

Best I can tell, the rival “MySpace” is for the teen and twenty set who wishes to have an open forum to misspell and cuss and debate which Jonas Brother is the cutest (seems like only yesterday I was having the same debate about Maurice, Barry, and Robin).

By contrast, this Facebook thing seems to be for “old people” – you know, those in our 30s and 40s. We use complete sentences and most of us (hi, Matt!) have admirable spelling skills. Like MySpace, Facebook is a great way to keep in touch with friends. Not so much a place to meet new people (MySpace is better for that) but more a way to reconnect with folks you’ve lost touch with and a way to stay current with people who may be time zones away. You know, a way to connect and share with the people in your life…

So for the first several months, I had just a handful of friends, most of them sharing my last name. I posted photos of various family events and celebrations and laughed out loud at the comments they posted in response. I’d check my page when I thought about it – maybe once a week or so. But then, then, it all changed. I recently expanded my network of friends and BAM, I’m suddenly a Facebook Addict with a real need to simply walk away from the computer.

The thing about Facebook that is so addictive is that is seems to be in almost constant motion. New pictures are added. New comments are posted. Statuses are updated. Status? Yeah, aside from the photos, Status Update is my favorite aspect of Facebook.

It works like this. When you log into your personal Facebook page, the first thing you see is a statement that you can change and update as much as you want. It simply says, “Toni is…” So based on my mood, activity, random ponderings, whatever, I fill in that blank however I wish. It is my current status and gives my network of friends an update on what I’m doing or thinking. And my friends do the same. So, every time I check Facebook, I can take a quick pulse on what is going on in the lives of my friends.

Sometimes it is the mundane : “John has a broken window.” “Bill is having soup.”

Sometimes it is celebratory: “Rich is getting a cool new snazzy piece of uniform tomorrow afternoon.” “Hillary is done holding her breath for her bar exam results--SHE PASSED!” “Sarah is happy that she has fired her doctor!”

Sometimes it is revealing: “Steve marched tonight with thousands of others protesting Prop 8.” “Josh has too many of the wrong kind of distractions in his life.”

Sometimes it is just a peek into a moment: “Ryan is talking to the love of his life then going to bed.” “Scott is having a case of the Mondays." "Susan is struggling with a 4 year old with a 2 year old tantrum!”

But in every case, it is a glimpse into the lives of my friends and family. For that moment, I am with them enjoying the soup or celebrating passing the bar or wishing I knew how to calm a cranky toddler. At first, this social networking movement seemed like an unnecessary addition to my life. Just more clutter and yet another thing to steal my time. But as I am growing into it and even now starting to meet people who share a life of chronic back pain, I am starting to see its value. Who knows, I might even start text messaging soon.