Social Networks

I'm finally discovering social networking a-la the internet. Oh, I've known about MySpace, FaceBook, and more for a while, but I never really saw any benefit wasting time "chatting" with people that had nothing better to do than sit at their computer...hey, wait.

All I DO is sit at my computer. Having become certifiably insane to the point of continuing in higher education as a "mature" adult, and having an IT job, I never get to leave my computer(s). I feel naked without a keyboard and monitor, and an internet hookup.

So I did the mature thing and signed up with some professional sites first, like LinkedIn. Then I meandered into MySpace and Twitter. Well, nothing happened for a while, and I got bored after the initial few days of learning my way around.

Then I signed up at FaceBook. The first day, someone I hadn't seen for 30 years asked me if I was the Jimmy Jones who.... Yes, I was. Then: 'Bam'. The hits kept pouring in. After a few months on FaceBook, I have hooked up with more than a dozen people that I haven't seen or spoken to since high school, which was almost before we had electric lights. I have really caught up with them too, because they posted not just pictures, but family albums, with captions! And they TALK about the pictures. And they TALK about what they are doing, and what they are going through. And I do the same thing! And it seems as if the 30 plus years has all but vanished in many cases.

My sister has been digging through old family photos, restoring some, and posting a LOT on FaceBook. The ones that can't be determined are put up for all to guess at: "anybody know (where, who, what) this is? And inevitably someone does. This is great. Talk about knowledge-building, friendship-making, family-strengthening, and just plain good times.

I don't know where it will go. And like all new technologies and practices it is getting abused and tiresome in some cases. Especially all the "what animal are you", "what superstar are you" type quizzes. Enough, already.

But the basic function and service provided have a lot of value to me, and I plan to get as much out of it as I can. I'm excited about the potential, and look forward to checking everyone out each day to see what new goodies people have posted, or what new "old" friends and acquaintances have joined.

Hope to see you there. Say "Hi" if you find me!

Jimmy Jones