FaceBook Addiction :\

Yes, it’s just another obsessive episode in the life of the Junkie.  I’m on FaceBook now.  I joined over a year ago, but have been resisting.  Finally I gave in to the request for friendship from a pal in Kentucky sent via Super FaceBook Guy.

I’m thinking that Super FaceBook Guy is really WordPress Dude’s super-hero alter ego.  That WordPress gig is just his clever cyber disguise.  Quiet, unassuming WordPress Dude, twirling his unsuspecting Mark Twain mustache and handling the two or three [!] EyeJunkie alerts each week, leaps into action when the inevitable barrage of FaceBook cyber connections call.  Yep, he dons (a word I learned back in the day from “Deck the Halls” — fa la la!) his trusty cape and organizes all my acquaintances to keep the communication flowing — sort of a combination Franklin-Covey-wishes-he-were-me day planner and souped up shipping and receiving I’m-better-than-FedEx hub for instant delivery of friendship.  What would I do without Super FaceBook Guy there to maintain my wall?  Yep, after he completes his meager WordPress Dude duties, and cops a squat at StarBucks for a large latte, he heads on over to FaceBook admin-central to burn up the bandwidth.  Social networking citizens, rest easy. Super FaceBook Guy never sleeps!  

Clearly, I digress.

So, I’ve been on FaceBook.  I finally added a profile picture (the same one I use everywhere) and even posted a few photos of my kids.  I’ve updated my “status” a few times, sent my friends milk and cookies and holiday cheer, and written on a couple of walls.  I’ve reconnected with my childhood next-door neighbor, a friend from high school, friends from college and even a good friend in my neighborhood.  

What!?!  I live within walking distance of her house, and the first time I’ve seen her THIS YEAR, I think, is on FaceBook.  It gives me pause.  It may be ridiculous and sad, but in the world we’ve built around ourselves, it’s reality.  To our credit, my friend and I are moving up the cyber food chain.  FaceBook friendship has led to actual correspondence via personal email accounts.  At some point, in the time between putting our respective families to bed, cooking and doing dishes and having conversations with the people who actually live in our houses with us, we may break down and share a phone call. For now, we are planning an actual face-to-face meeting–in person, at something like a restaurant where we will actually see one another beyond the frozen profile expression.  I’m thinking that we might even partake of that antiquated gesture, the hug.  SuperPoke that!

Anyway, I’m giving in to the trend.  It’s fun.  The connections are different, but they’re connections.  Whatever it takes, I say!  Carry on my fellow FaceBook addicts, go forth and befriend!