A Little Face-Time for Facebook …

Another weekend, another couple hours on Facebook … yes?

 

Actually, I wasn’t able to spend much time on Facebook this week or this weekend, and I was surprised at how much guilt I felt. I received an “out of office” pingback from a girlfriend, in fact, and when I hurriedly sent a different e-mail to her home to ask about her absence (her pingback mentioned surgery), she said “Check out my Facebook page for details. …” Gulp. (As in “You obviously haven’t been reading my Facebook page.”) More guilt. Am I supposed to be reading it every night? I got on Facebook to have a little fun, but now I’m wondering if signing up is sort of like signing a contract to spend at least a half an hour on it per day. Or else you might get Superpoked.

 

If Twitter is the great big networking cocktail party (where you stand around swirling your Manhattan, looking for someone to introduce yourself to), surely Facebook is the raucous Christmas party in your family’s home basement, no? It’s the casual-sweater-wearing crowd, where everyone is sitting shoulder-to-shoulder on the couch, passing photos up and down the line.

 

At first, I really liked this casualness. I loved getting in touch with old friends, and I loved looking at everyone’s pictures. Continue reading

Female Friendships and Facebook

I’ve been thinking a lot about female friendships lately. I guess I’ve been thinking about them because of Facebook. Every week, it seems another friend signs on to Facebook and you get that little notification: “We need to confirm that you know So-and-So in order for you to be friends on Facebook.” And that always makes me smile. I think, “Confirm my friendship? Are you kidding me? We’ve been friends since elementary school, and remember that time when we were ten, and we went door-to-door and asked the neighborhood to sign a petition to ‘save the dogs’ and …” etc., etc.

 

It lets me stroll, briefly, down Memory Lane while I hit that little blue link and “confirm.” It lets me remember all the wonderful times I had with that person, and – in general – all the wonderful women I’ve known. I get to remember how much they’ve all contributed to my life – a good laugh, a good cry, good advice or good times. Some of them have been there to inspire me, some to lead the way. Others are there asking for advice, and it makes me feel like I’m “giving back” a tip that someone gave me once – passing the wisdom down the line. Because we all need to be there for each other. …

 

In comments, my Aunt Helene sent this wonderful link to Kelly Corrigan’s reading of her essay “Transcending.” It’s gorgeous. Really. If you’ve ever had a female friend, or if you’ve ever felt a tad bit guilty going out for soup and salad with your favorite girlfriends after work when you knew you were missing a soccer a practice, watch this clip. It’ll remind you why we do it – and how, when we band together, and cherish those friendships, we all make each other stronger. Here’s the link.

 

Thanks, Helene, for sending it. Mizamiga also commented on it to me offline, and Dixie blogged about Kelly Corrigan’s book “The Middle Place.” Thanks to my blogging community! You send me great stuff. …

 

 

 

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