I wrote this a while ago and it was an old blogpost. Â But after reconnecting with high school friends last weekend I thought I would repost.
I was a long time hold out on Facebook even though I received dozens of invitations to join. I thought it was just another way to procrastinate and frankly I have plenty of that already. But when my daughter turned thirteen and was given permission for her own Facebook page, it was time for me to have one too. And now after months on the social network, I stand corrected.
Facebook has provided a way to reach out to friends and family, to have a constant reminder of what’s going on in town, with favorite businesses, in the movie theaters.  I get  book suggestions, weather updates and have even found myself in multiple online games with friends old and new.  I’ve even reconnected with a very good childhood friend  who moved away when we were seven.  We met finally at a winery of all places, after way too many years.
My first summer on Facebook we decided to pull back on summer camp and vacation spending. I devoted a little time looking for inexpensive activities for the kids – nothing out of my way, just a few extra minutes in a store or the library to look around and ask questions. I found plenty of free or near free things, free movies, $5.00 cooking classes, concerts, etc. Unfortunately I’m not a particularly organized person so I had flyers and handouts stuffed in my purse and I usually forgot about them until it was too late. Then it occurred to me that I could subscribe to most of these businesses on Facebook by finding them in the search box and clicking the “like†button. Now, I get daily or weekly notifications for all of my favorite places and I can add and subtract from that list whenever I want.  I follow my favorite authors, chefs, and even a few community theater groups so I don’t miss any more shows because I saw the poster too late!  My thirteen year old daughter “friended†me so I get a glimpse of her world without intrusion or distrust – that might be the best part.
If you have a Facebook story, please share it with me, you might see it here.
I hope you think that using Facebook is a gOOd idea too.
