Some Reflection on Social Networking

          I’ve been a member of Facebook since 2008.  Friends looking for other friends within a less cluttered platform pulled me over from MySpace.  MySpace pages were filled with personalized and borrowed (even purchased) HTML that took too long to download.  I remember a Family Guy episode (McStroke?) where Stewie comments about his own MySpace page filled with pictures “along with my favorite songs and movies and things that other people have created but that I use to express my individualism.”  It was a jab obviously meant to be ironic.  I took it seriously, though, and soon abandoned MySpace altogether.  There was something narcissistic and immature about it.  And there were better and easier ways to communicate with people for free. 

          I was a late bloomer to MySpace.  I created a page in 2007 during a divorce.  Instead of drowning my time and sorrows in low places, I found old friends that I hadn’t seen or heard from in over ten years.  It filled a lonely time, and became a springboard towards a better life.  But yes, the page downloads were slow, and a few friends (I think I had about 40) mentioned Facebook, and so-and-so was on there, but not MySpace, so if I was looking for them, I might try creating a profile there, etc.  And so I did.   

           From a late bloomer to an early settler in the public forum of Facebook, I began to find more people.  Over the past 7 years, I’ve connected to what seems like everyone I ever met and shared time with at some point in my life.  The friend count is up to about 500 (not much in comparison to some, but beginning from 40 …).  I don’t post much anymore, now that the network has grown so large.  There’s some sort of strange transference of shyness, I suppose.  I do post pictures of my little boy, and “like” a lot of statuses.  I creep mostly.  I dislike that term, because it’s really more like channel-surfing, a kind of passive entertainment that simultaneously keeps me in some sense of touch with that network. 

          Since I began classes at SNHU, I’ve joined a few writers’ groups on Facebook.  I am a member of Writing at SNHU and the SNHU Writer’s Hangout.  My habits haven’t changed much.  I enjoy reading posts far more than posting, but I do participate actively.  I’ve written, and helped write, two short fiction pieces with members of the group, and offered detailed feedback for other writers seeking help.  These groups have led me to fiction contests, other resources for reading as well as writing sources, and really has become the writing community I always wanted (just couldn’t ever find locally).  Facebook fan pages have become a great way to stay close with favorite authors, and on a much more personable level. 

          With the ease of use via smartphones, I’ve joined other social networking sites since.  I have a Twitter account, Instagram, Goodreads, Google +, Vine, and a Pinterest (I love Pinterest!).  These are about all I can keep up with in fragmented bits of hours scrolling through the apps.  They can take up a lot of time, but not in ways that interrupt the rest of life going on around me.  They certainly take the edge off long staff meetings.  I think there is a lot of good available through social networking, from global awareness to local advertising (even crime fighting!).  The use of social networking unexpectedly assuaged a difficult time in my life.  It has pitfalls and dangers, along with warnings from naysayers, but so did Gutenberg’s press.