It was my younger brother who pulled me into becoming a Facebook member. He’d been following the activities of his three kids on it and thought I should be tuned in to the activities of the younger generation as well. So I floundered around on my computer, filled out the member form, and managed to upload my picture up onto it.
My first friends were members of my immediate family, but I came across more and more friends and relatives who were also on Facebook. After a high school reunion, some of my classmates “friended me” as well and I started learning about the lives of classmates I had lost touch with. I learned such things as JoAnn is an expert cake decorator, Ron has had a heart transplant, and Nancy is running writers seminars on Martha’s Vineyard.
My twin godsons live in Boston and Denver and engage in a culinary competition posting pictures of their gourmet meals on Facebook. Their father was an excellent cook and would be very proud.
Of course, my favorite things are the pictures and stories about my grandchildren who live in the Boston area. My daughter uses Facebook to give us a wonderful view into their daily lives.
For almost every interest in the world, there are groups whose members connect through Facebook. I have joined the “I’m from West Hartford” group and the “I’ve got Scottish Ancestors” group, but my favorite is the pantheist group. Pantheism is the belief that God is the very basic stuff that makes up the universe and everything in it, namely a kind of conscious or intelligent energy (think “The Force”). There are a lot of smart, well read, people who call themselves pantheists, and their conversations are thought provoking. I recently posted some thoughts about Jesus and pantheism and got over 80 “likes” and about 90 comments. The comments mostly supported my thesis, but there were also some remarks of “How dare you question what I was taught in Sunday School.” Also some suggestions for further reading.
I have a high tolerance for spiritual and philosophical postings but tend to avoid the political ones. Some people are so nasty (and predictable!) in their political postings that I have shut them out of appearing on my “newsfeed” which is what Facebook calls the page you see each time you log on. You can do this without “unfriending” them which is rather a drastic measure. If you just block their postings, you’ll still be on their list of friends and they won’t know that you aren’t reading them.