FACEBOOK IS NOT THE
DEVIL’S TOOL
My brother
recently told me in an e-mail, that I probably knew more about what is
happening with his kids than he does because I am friends with them on
Facebook. He does not do Facebook. He does not do technical stuff. He says that without shame. It is almost a badge of pride with old people.
“Facebook, I don’t do that face
thingy.”
In bashing
my bro, let me first throw in a little brotherly pride. My brother is one smart dude. He graduated top of his class at one of the
finest colleges in the country. He was a
Rhodes Scholar candidate. He graduated
near the top of his class at Harvard Law School. He went on to become the top lawyer at one of
the largest law firms in the south, and recently retired from his position as a
Magistrate Judge for the Federal Court System.
He is about two IQ points from a Mensa invitation.
AND HE DOESN’T DO THAT TECHY STUFF!!
Our Grandma
Gus didn’t do that telephone stuff at the shore house.
“If I need to call, there is a pay
phone down the street.”
Our mom
would never do cable television.
“Why should I pay when I can get it
for free?”
The more
things change, the more they stay the same.
Can Facebook
be abused? Yes, by stupid people and
teenagers. I hardly think my brother
could be duped into posting lewd pictures of himself on the internet or hooking
up with a sex predator, or sending money to a Nigerian Prince. Is it wise to not give too much personal
information on Facebook? Yes…SO DON’T DO IT!!
Why use
Facebook?
How about
connecting with those old high school and college friends that you enjoy seeing
every ten years at reunions?
How about
seeing pictures and videos of your grandchildren the same day they are
taken?
How about
chatting online with your kids while watching the same football game? I sometimes play online poker with my son who
lives in California, and carry on conversations while playing. How friggin cool is that?
Facebook can
be really cool. It is perfect for old
people to connect with friends and keep up with family. Facebook can be abused…mostly by silly
teens…old people can handle it…avoiding stupid stuff is what old people do
best.
I say to my
older bro, lose your old fart poster boy status. Join the social media revolution. You can handle it. You can figure it out in about ten
minutes…three minutes with your son’s help.
Use what you like, ignore the crap you do not like and if you hate it,
if you still think it is evil, or if you find you are too stupid to learn how
to sign on, then just don’t use it.
As that
crazy Romanian Gym coach said to the fourteen year old girl with the broken
ankle before she attempted to vault the horse with a triple flip half twist
saw-cow and land directly on her broken ankle,
“YOU CAN DO IT!!”
I'm not a fan of Facebook and rarely update my page. It seems to me that very little of importance is said on Facebook. Maybe I;m just not that interesting because I can't think of things I want people to know on an hourly basis.
ReplyDeleteAwww....come on Steve. I'm sure the world would love to know what kind of cereal you had for breakfast, what brand toilet paper you use, and wheter or not you tucked your shirt into your jeans. This is important stuff here!
ReplyDeleteThe one I can't figure out is Twitter. They want me to write 140 characters. Outside of you, Cranky, I only know four or five other characters. ;)
S
i don't face, tweet, pin, or anything besides blogging. too much time spent at the computer as it is...
ReplyDeleteI'm on FB (not Twitter) but I don't post very often. I use it to keep track of friends and especially family so I comment on their posts. My sister is one of the old farts. She doesn't even own a computer or a smart phone. Drives me crazy because she's always calling me to look something up for her.
ReplyDeleteI'd comment but I have to go check my Facebook page ...realy.
ReplyDeleteI'm with you Joe! Their are friends I have with whom I hang out every weekend (virtually) on Facebook. As these friends are spread from Italy to California, that would be tough to do in person.
ReplyDeleteAnd yes, I get the latest grandkid stuff, nearly as it happens.
I joined Facebook primarily because that's how my kids and grandkids communicate. If I wanted to see the latest pictures, and the latest updates on what's going on in their lives, I figured that's what I was gonna have to do. That's all I ever expected to do with it, but much to my surprise, I've also made contact with a bunch of people I haven't seen in almost fifty years. Kinda cool.
ReplyDeleteWhile admittedly some folks put just a tad too much on Facebook, (I've blocked a couple "friends" up to this point, just don't need to read about what you eat or if you have some silly-assed conspiracy theories)
ReplyDeleteI'm pretty sure life would have been just a bit less interesting for the time we spent in Europe. I mean, there's still the 'net, but being able to post pictures of your trip to wherever for your friends to see is kind of neat.
*THAT* is the point of Facebook as far as I'm concerned. Plus, I have been able to reconnect with some old friend with whom I had completely lost touch. I suppose I could get along just fine without ever knowing how they made out in life (or whatever) but I see no harm in knowing how someone is doing.
Sometimes you need all the friends you can find. Just saying.
So...he was a judge? Like, "educated" and stuff??
No comment.
That's nice of you to deliver a kick to the kiester to sort of jump start the old guy, but you are way underestimating the time. If he actually nails facebook in ten minutes, I'll pay him to come fix my work email.
ReplyDeleteI gotta go with your bro on this one. No way do I have time for learning and keeping up with some other electronic gewgaw platform. Besides, I associate it with kids, which to me means students, which I want no part of on my down time.
ReplyDeleteThat said, they've probably made a fake profile of me, which I am happily ignorant of.
Facebook is awesome and it also annoys me, but it is excellent for keeping in touch with people. I do it very light on and I block all the games and stuff, but it is very useful.
ReplyDeleteI love your sentence "Avoiding stupid stuff is what old people do best."
Facebook is not s bad if the usage of it is limit. Everything goes bad once we go beyond the limits. I have learned many information through facebook.
ReplyDeletePeople always say that they don't "do" Facebook ... but as soon as someone sets them up with an account suddenly they're liking things like it's going out of fashion.
ReplyDeletePut my husband in the stubborn old fart category, though he's only 60. Is 60 old? I digress. Anyway, I think he takes pride in being a fb holdout; as if the rest of us are wasting our time gossiping, bragging, etc. He still enjoys seeing our encyclopedia on the book shelf. Not going to stop me though; I enjoy some occasional stalking. Actually, I use it to post my blog links.
ReplyDeleteI'm in total agreement with you on this one, I love Facebook! True, it is full of often trivial or even stupid commentary, but still it's a great way to keep up with friends from around the world, share a little bit of kitty love and words of inspiration, drool over a zillion great recipes, and ask for prayers when needed. It is all in how you use it, take the best and leave the rest! And yes, don't turn it into an online drama diary... at any age! :-)
ReplyDelete