this facebook thing

I finally gave in and opened a facebook account... OH NO!

I now have 56 friends and right now, all the people that are listed as friends within my profile are people that I have actually been "friends" with except for one guy whose guts I hated... don't get me started on that one!

It's funny because while I think of myself as a great conversationalist in person, I do not think that I am that great online. I have people asking me all sorts of questions like

How's ottawa?

I feel like answering, "How in the hell am I supposed to know? I'm too busy to notice!"

Or the other day... So, tell me about your wife...

Well, do you have all day? I am pretty sure that you do not, but if you would like me to ramble on and on about her every attribute, then go get a drink and some popcorn and be prepared to sit here for 2 days. Seriously! I think they're just making conversation.

But it got me thinking about the whole point of this facebook thing. It is supposedly a "social networking site" but all it has done up to this point is connect me to my family in one other way, and a whole bunch of people who I was too busy to get in touch with, or who I just gave up on being friends with because my life had moved on and they were no longer a part of it. My network has not grown, my social life has not improved (not that I want it to... I am married, remember?), and the only thing that has changed is that I am spending less time wasting "company hours" reading the news and more on facebook.

Growing up in a society that was extremely interconnected (meaning all-up-in-each-others-business), I can understand how a phenomenon like facebook is attractive. It allows us to be even more interconnected and make meaningless conversation just to keep the connection and have stories to tell... if you do not believe me, then you should look through my trash mail to find the number of invitations to facebook I have received from people living in a country with atrocious internet access. It is literally dumbfounding.

Now that I live in a society that desires to be as interconnected as the one I grew up in, but is unfortunately far more secluded and individualistic, I can see the other side of the benefit of such a website. It helps to create the facade of community and networking... but are we any closer than we were before? Aren't we still running off to our quiet secluded homes to "socialize"? Aren't we still just as lonely as we were before even as our "friends" multiply on the internet?

The other day I heard that facebook sold for $250 million. OMG! Reminds me of the days in the not too distant past when IT companies were valued at more than what they were really worth and it only took a little consumer discomfort to disclose how inflated their value was. I would know. I was an unemployed IT person. Facebook is not worth $250 million... NO WAY JOSE! Are we sure it's even making a profit? Feel free to educate me.

Alas, my time is up here and I must return like a faithfully brainwashed person to the confines of social networking and facebook and try to come up with a creative answer to the question:

So what's new with you?