New technology has rewritten the rules and norms of social
communication. To be someone’s “friend”
has so much more meaning than it once did.
To “friend” and “de-friend” someone are terms in our vocabulary that did
not recently exist but that now, have significant meaning. Some may feel that facebook and other social
media have trivialized our relationships to their least common denominator,
making “friendship” nothing more than knowing someone’s name by some common
association or affiliation. It is true
that some times this is the case. But often
times such social media connects you to like-minded people who support and
inspire you and thus touch you in significant ways. This kind of inspiration expands like a
community and creates a pocket of consciousness that although planted online,
grows in real-life situations.
In my own experience with social media, I have friends whom
I’ve never met in the physical world. I
have friends with whom I’ve shared my deepest and darkest secrets. I have connected to family I’ve only met once
or twice as well as family with whom I am intimately close. I have reconnected with people I have not
seen in years. I have opened up to
people I barely know. I have been able
to express things that I would not otherwise be able to express. For shy, awkwardly social people like me who
prefer to write, facebook is a gift from the internet heavens.
Facebook has allowed us to share our lives in a unique
way. A picture of a sunrise or a poem
can connect us at a philosophical level.
A silly joke can connect our senses of humor. Cute animals can connect our special
interests. News items can connect our
intellect. And the beautiful faces of
ourselves and our family just connects us to each other.
Social media not only connects us to one another through our
similarities but it informs us through our differences. Not all of my facebook friends share my
political, spiritual or psychological philosophies. Sometimes it is hard for me to read a post
that I morally or philosophically oppose but I appreciate the diversity of
thought among my friends and I remind myself that an open mind is a richer
mind.
I am thankful for social media and all that it has to offer.
I am thankful for the new friends I have made and for the old friends I’ve
kept. I am thankful for the laughs and
the love and the wisdom I have received from others. I am thankful that I can share myself with
the world in a way I never felt comfortable enough to do.
So next time you feel like you are spending too much time on
facebook or twitter or blogspot or
pinterest, just remember that you are merely connecting yourself to the great
big world of thought and creativity around you!
Your world can be as big or
small as you want it to be.
If there were annual “facebook awards”, they would go to….
Paula Sherman for the best nature pics, Donna Riley Jensen
for the creepy Halloween countdown, Amy Peterman for the funniest posts, Trevor
Gillette for the most thought-provoking posts, Linda Eastman-Durham for the
most misspelled words, Sharon Hoyle Gabrielson and Vicki Kendal-Olsen for the
most consecutive posts, Stephanie Eastman-Bushman and Alicia Eastman for the
cutest kid pics (bias alert), Jackson Galaxy for the cutest pet pics, Joe Greene for the most real-life celebrity
pics and my mom for the one person I wish was on facebook but who is not. L
Now go post your thoughts!
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