FACEBOOK: the end of the world as we knew it...

[Mike in Seattle]

The Mr. and I enjoy sitting side by side, sharing a bottle of wine, winding up each other and our pals on fb. But of course, I also take great pleasure in using real stamps to send real letters written by real hand.

:eusa_clap :eusa_clap :eusa_clap :eusa_clap :eusa_clap :eusa_clap

 

[Mike in Seattle]

To respectively disagree. It's parents responsibility to monitor their children's actions and safety.

Exactly! I've got a cousin all bent out of shape because "family secrets" were blabbed on the Internet by one of her kids...and all I can say is, "OK, she's 7 and you turn her loose on the computer, so who's really to blame?" And really, grandma's going through menopause - who the heck gives a hoot in this day and age? Who taught the kid to use the computer, and further, bravo for a 7 year old who can spell a rather...advanced term AND use it in the correct context.

 

[Mike in Seattle]

And no matter what form you use - an ad in the local newspaper, a carefully, nay, lovingly handwritten invitiation on your best engraved Crane notecards, an invitation via email, telephone, snail-mail, an invitation tied to a rock and thrown through a window, or hand-delivered ...you still get these ill-mannered slugs who will NOT RSVP! Or they'll say they're coming and then they don't, or they say they're not and then show up with friends in tow anyway and wonder why you're a little short with them. :rage: Or they say they'll bring the ham and they show up with paper cups...and then complain because they're allergic to turkey and on Atkins and can't have stuffing, and how in the hell do you NOT you have ToFurkey and Garden Burgers in the freezer just for them?

Yes...I exaggerate...but not THAT much. Some of you ARE laughing WITH me, right?

 

[ThesFlishThngs]

You've got it right, Mike in S. - manners are manners, and decency is decency, no matter what form of communication is used. How hard is it to treat others with a bit of consideration and respect? Pretty impossible for some.

 

[Jennifer Lynn]

I've used FB to keep in touch with school friends, old coworkers and folks I wouldn't normally talk to every day (i.e. not local). It's good to keep in touch with them there, but yep, a handwritten letter every so often is just as nice.

What gets me about alot of the social networking sites, including FB and twitter (and its plethora of spawn ala tweetdeck) is how much access people have to it through technology, and how addicted many have become to keeping in touch in this fashion. I had a few family members in town last week, and my younger brother was on his Iphone nearly all the time tweeting and IM'ing his friends back home. Thankfully he did take time to socialize with us, but I wish he had put down his phone to take in more of his vacation (he even had it with him on a mini speedboat at Disney).

 

[Foofoogal]

http://money.cnn.com/2009/10/26/technology/twitter_evan_williams.fortune/?postversion=2009102615

I love Twitter. I do not like Facebook. As a business person it has knocked down walls for me I probably would of never been able to do. I find it amazing for networking and communicating.

 

[Foofoogal]

http://tech.yahoo.com/news/ap/20091027/ap_on_hi_te/us_tec_facebook_profiles

be immortalized at Facebook forever.

 

[Paisley]

And no matter what form you use - an ad in the local newspaper, a carefully, nay, lovingly handwritten invitiation on your best engraved Crane notecards, an invitation via email, telephone, snail-mail, an invitation tied to a rock and thrown through a window, or hand-delivered ...you still get these ill-mannered slugs who will NOT RSVP! Or they'll say they're coming and then they don't, or they say they're not and then show up with friends in tow anyway and wonder why you're a little short with them. :rage: Or they say they'll bring the ham and they show up with paper cups...and then complain because they're allergic to turkey and on Atkins and can't have stuffing, and how in the hell do you NOT you have ToFurkey and Garden Burgers in the freezer just for them?

Yes...I exaggerate...but not THAT much. Some of you ARE laughing WITH me, right?

I invited my niece and her daughter to go dancing with me last summer. Never heard back from them. Never got a thank-you for the gift I bought last Christmas. Nevertheless, I'm still buying Christmas gifts this year...all of which I'll be giving to charity.

 

[C-dot]

http://tech.yahoo.com/news/ap/20091027/ap_on_hi_te/us_tec_facebook_profiles

be immortalized at Facebook forever.

Facebook immortalized a high school friend of ours who died in a tragic accident at a football game. His family did not want this. One of his friends asked Facebook to do it - They really should have verified who the asker was. Now it can't be undone!

 

[DBLIII]

With all the technology we have available, each of us chooses what we like and dislike and it seems to work out.
I like Facebook, really dislike television and have an extremely simple cell phone and never text anyone. I have no idea what that means, but it works for me. Invitations through Facebook or via the postal service are always welcome.

 

[Geesie]

As much as I love the interwebs, it really has changed things. For example, I work in an office with five other people and we all use instant messenger to communicate, even though our offices are a few feet apart.

I've used this to my advantage. When most intra-office communication is electronic, certain skills are quickly lost. Which is to say, when I show up at an office door needing immediate response or action, the person inside is a lot less able to deflect me.

 

[Warden]

I was at a Microsoft event last week; they said email will be dead in 5 years. Instant Messaging / Facebook is the future.

 

[Miss Neecerie]

I was at a Microsoft event last week; they said email will be dead in 5 years. Instant Messaging / Facebook is the future.

Just like real snail mail died completely out like they said it would?

 

[Foofoogal]

I was at a Microsoft event last week; they said email will be dead in 5 years. Instant Messaging / Facebook is the future.

well, I am tempted to say Microsoft will be bye bye. I am currently running Mac with ability to have 12 windows open. I am in heaven. Now if I could figure out the fancy photo thing which goes by GPS and face recognition. I kid you not.
When I work on a microsoft I keep trying to open windows that are not there. Feel like I am on a dinosaur after my mac.


My 19 year old nephew that was also killed in a car accident is still on Facebook. His family or siblings want him there. It is unnerving to me to say the least. [huh]

 

[Fletch]

I was at a Microsoft event last week; they said email will be dead in 5 years. Instant Messaging / Facebook is the future.

I don't hold with commercial concerns telling me what the future will be, any more than I do when they try to tell me what the past was. Why don't they take off the turban and go flog Windows 7?

 

[docneg]

I can't believe I'm saying something in favor of the Facebook invitation to the relative five minutes away, or the co-worker in the next cubicle, but there ARE some people with whom it is more...shall we say EXPEDIENT to deliver a message that way, than to risk being hooked into a long, boring, and pointless story if we met them or called them up. There are so many people who think endless rambling is real conversation, and now they feel entitled to do that because every trivial aspect of their lives can be chronicled online. I say send them a brief note informing them of the event, and send it anonymously so they don't know where to go.

 

[Miss 1929]

I have been having 20 times more communication with my tech-addicted sister since she and I both started using FB.

Nothing wrong with it.

When it's YOUR invitation, send it your way. When it comes from someone else, you should just be grateful to be invited.

Now, back to my Facebook page...

 

[Spitfire]

C'mon you people - allthough it may come as a chock to some of you: This is 2009 - not 1929!
FL and Facebook are two sides of the same coin.

Just look in the "What do you wear today thread".....see me, see me!!!!!! Just like Facebook.

This long and in many ways interessting discussion we have here - could just as easy go on at Facebook.

We meet new friends and keep contact to old ones here - same thing as Facebook.

We plan and invite people to events - just as we do at Facebook.

We show off our holiday pictures - just as we do it at Facebook.

We show off ourselves - just as we do at Facebook.

In fact I find it strange that we have this discussion about how bad, uneducated, uncivilized everything modern, digital is - at a digital media.

:eusa_doh:

 

[Miss Neecerie]

see post #2 dear friend.....

 

[scotrace]

I'm now in contact with nieces and nephews I had not seen or heard of in decades due to facebook.
People I knew in past lives and wondered if they were happy, well, etc. - now I can see from their facebook profile that they re at least alive and smiling now and then. I get invites to events, keep up with rehearsal scheduling, and have an easy way to let people who matter know what's happening in my world, while also getting glimpses into theirs.

I wish I'd thought of creating Facebook.