I finally conceded to the masses this week and joined Facebook. Over the last year, friends have been trying to get me to join it because it's so much fun and you can see pictures of your friends and their kids and pets and blah blah blah. Yes, I was a naysayer to put it mildly. Even though I wasn't a subscriber, I'd been receiving e-mails requesting me to be someone's "friend".  My typical reply would be that I thought we were already friends so why do we need a website to solidify it. So, not only was I a naysayer, but I was a bit crotchety when it got right down to it.

The thing is, I have wonderful friends. If I was told I could choose anybody in the whole world to be friends with, I'd pick the same ones I have, no question. So, through the years I've had successful relationships because of what I call Face-to-Face Book. It's important that I spend time with everybody, both one-on-one and in groups. And, if you ask me, I think it's pretty easy to be friends with me. I like to think I have a reasonable set of  criteria for friendship; be kind, have a good sense of humor, and drink well with others. How hard can that be? So, I just didn't see any reason to join Facebook...until now. 

I am networking and in this month's Chicago Magazine there was an article about how people in my age group need to rethink how we network. It discussed how important the on-line sources are; LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter. I'm on LinkedIn and it's been helpful getting in touch with former colleagues. I know enough about Twitter that you're allowed around 140 characters to get your message across. Well, there are many days I am a woman of few words but when it comes to writing, I can be a bit verbose. The only message I could think of to Tweet and not run over the character limit would read "WILL WORK FOR WINE". Then I thought of the type of job responses I may get and remembered that I prefer work vertically. Well,  that left me with Facebook so I started the journey on Sunday. And, I must say, it's been interesting. 

In the past 2 days I've added 30 friends; some I see regularly and others I haven't seen in 25 years. Lots of old college friends have turned up that I haven't talked to since 1984. We went to a small school in Iowa and many people have landed all over the world chasing their dreams and living a good life.  I found the whole Facebook world fascinating that one person connects with you and they tell two friends and so on and so on.  They even let your friends make recommendations for who should be your friend. And there's some kind of instant chat, a notification message button and e-mail. At one point, they were all were going off at once. And that's because I have a couple of smart-ass friends who knew I was new to this so they were trying to drive me crazy...and it worked. But yesterday alone, I was talking to Hawaii and NYC at the same time plus I had a threesome chat with a husband and wife and not one bit of that was illegal or dirty. 

So, now I'm sold on this whole Facebook concept. It's opened up a whole new world for me and I'm ready for it. It still makes me feel vulnerable but I think once I learn all the tools, it will serve its purpose. Those I've been in touch with know I'm looking for a job so the networking aspect is in play. The pictures are another story altogether. I've been "tagged" on some photos from the early '80s. Not particularly flattering but that's what I looked like back then. And, I get that it's funny to embarrass people by posting pictures on the Internet without their permission for the world to see. I just have to say now that I'm on, I can't wait to dig through my arsenal of pictures to see who I can "tag". But before I do that, I need someone to tell me what that means and how to do it.  This could be a fun game.  

Today's EiPod: "Waiting For My Real Life to Begin", Colin Hay