Friday, January 21, 2011

trying to be flexible

I wrote what I readily admit was a rant about Face book. My apologies to many--especially M.C.--for that. the comments told me I was being unreasonable and inflexible. So today I offered friend-ness (not friendship, that isn't mutually exclusive--but it isn't the same thing) to a whole bunch of people. I got lots of emails saying so-and-so accepted my invitation to friend-ness. I also got messages from people. And someone wrote on my 'wall'. So I spent well over an hour trying to figure out what 'my wall' was and to negotiate the Face book universe. They kept asking me for my password--which I know...it is ******. But every time I changed screens, they asked me for ****** again and promised me that Face Book--like an entity, would not remember my password.

Why? I wondered since everyone else gives me that choice like Blogger.Com and everyone else.

So I spent over an hour I could have spent writing or shoveling snow, reading or shoveling snow, going to the library or shoveling snow, pondering deep thoughts or shoveling snow...you get the idea.

I need a guide and mentor to negotiate Face Book. I have no idea how to send a message and , beyond that, no idea where my message would go--all my 'friends'? nowhere? everywhere?

Look, it took me several weeks to learn how to send an e-mail and longer than that to learn how to blog successfully. If Face Book takes as much time as I spent today--to no value so far as I can tell--why would I ever look at it? Plus I had all these messages from people I know--my friend-ness peeps--that I don't know how to respond to or if I should.

I feel like a stranger in the strange land of Face Book. If today is any example, I don't have time to do it. Plus, how do I get rid of the dozens of messages? Plus/plus, what do I do about all the people who want friend-ness extended, about 200 until I quit counting, most of whom I don't know but who share a friend-ness person or two with me, so they say?

To me, at this point, Face Book is neither "social" or a "network" in any way I consider those two terms.

What do I do? Don't "Face Book me"--what a weird verb, by the way--email me or call me with advice. Or, best of all, write me a letter and send it through the mail. I really pay attention to letters since I get so few in this age of electronic communication. Like, for example, this blog.....

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About Me

some ponderings by an aging white man who is an Episcopal priest in Connecticut. Now retired but still working and still wondering what it all means...all of it.