The phenomonom that is facebook

Well, looking back I see that I wrote a little bit about facebook in the spring. Back then it was all new to me. And I simply gave it a passing glance.

Over the past few months, Facebook has continued to grow and evolve, It has changed the way people communicate. Dare I say, I only use emails these days for business. Now facebook is not only a way to find old friends, it is also the platform many use to send each other notes or photos. It is the platform many use to set up meeting, parties, bbq's, or card games. I can see a time in the near future when children will ask their parents, what "email" was. With that revelation, facebook has proven, to me at least, that technology will continue to change the playing field in ways that are almost unpredictable.

Their is a "voyeuristic" element to the site. Addicting, in the sense that you need to turn it on, to see what those in your network are doing. You might not ever send them a message, or drop them a line, but still you like to read their "news feeds". You like to know that that old friend is sitting at home with their children. You like to know that that girl you met at the bar last week is sitting home alone just like you. In a way facebook has made the world small again. In a world where friends are disconnected by space, time and most importantly lifestyle, it is nice to know that somewhere somehow we all still have a connection. It may not be a connection we wish to fall back on or rebuild, but it is a connection that at some point in time existed.

At the same time, it brings the past crashing into the present, it also helps the present turn into tomorrow. It is not just a site for old friends to get in touch, it is a new platform to communicate with new friends. If I did have one complaint about it. It would be the cacophony that is created when we are able, with the click of a button ,to bring the past, the present, and the future crashing into each other, all three fighting for their day in the sun.

I don't know what will come next....but for right now...facebook is changing the fabric of society. It is presenting each of us with a kaleidoscope of images from our past. Showing us all the roads that we did not take. And all the old friends who continued to walk them, and where exactly they ended up. I just hope, that as we all take a look a the people that have created us. We are happy with the choices we have made. For those who are haunted by the past, facebook must seem the devil incarnate. But, for those who are trying to understand the past, it is a blessing in disguise.