Since I’ve signed up for Facebook (which I will now refer to as FB) I’ve pretty much signed onto it at least daily. I can’t remember a day that I was able to sign on and did not. I’ve purposely not looked at specific accounts but never have not signed on if I had the power to. It’s one of the first things I do when I get to work, when I get home, when I’m on the train. I have the FB app and use it.
This past week I’ve tried just not signing using FB at all. FB is a good way to reconnect with a friend, but it shouldn't be the only way. At first it was difficult, and I’ll admit I felt a little bit disconnected from some people. I had to do things old school. I was forced to call people, send emails and send text messages. WTF who sends texts nowadays?
To be honest I call very few people, and the few people I did call occasionally did not answer the phone. I hate leaving voice mails, so I left a “hello” text. I did send a few emails and text messages, which I felt more comfortable leaving. I feel like it’s easier to just say a noncommittal “Hi.”
In this increasingly digital age, maybe this is just the direction we're going in. Customer service requests are filled out online, ordering food, shopping, even handling money can all be done online. We send coworkers emails when we can just as easily walk to their desk. Things are becoming more and more impersonal, when sometimes, just talking to someone makes things better faster.
It’s amazing how sometimes we forget what a phone call or even how simply messaging, “Hello,” can mean to the person on the other end. Whether through FB or not, keeping up with close friends is important to me, but it is nice to find things out or hear news personally. As I’ve learned about myself and whether I like it or not, I’m a “I’ll take what I can get” type of person. As a result FB has simply become a venue to keep up with people. Sad. So FB or no FB, this was a good exercise in maintaining my relationships. When was the last time you called someone just to say “Hello”?
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