Why I Like Facebook

Facebook has problems. No social media is perfect. But I really like Facebook. It has become a vital source for connecting with others and for getting information about my friends and family. Those who have always lived in the same location or live around most of their family members may not understand this, but for 25 years I have not lived anywhere near my family and I have lived in 5 states and 2 countries during that time.

Nothing beats face to face communication. Yes, there are other apps and tools for connecting with people who do not live near you and this is not a new problem. Just 100 years ago some people moved and never heard from or saw their family and friends again. But humans have an innate desire to communicate, even across distances. Ships used to carry messages from one port to another. The Pony Express carried mail across the United States. Benjamin Franklin helped to start the post office in 1775 before we were even a nation. In 1836 Samuel Morse invented a means to communicate through dots and dashes. Then Alexander Graham Bell helped make it possible for us to hear each other from great distances in 1876.

Modern communication has advanced to video conferencing, email, texting, video phone calls and many means of social media, such as YouTube, Facebook, Tumbler, Twitter, Blogs, etc. I use most of these, but I find that Facebook is a much better source for me. YouTube, Blogs, Google+, Tumbler, etc. are mostly one sided, except for comments, and not confined to your friends. Twitter is too worldwide. Facebook allows me to communicate and keep up with only those people that I know. Google+ has tried to do the same, but very few of my friends or family are on that. And I am not a phone person. I call my parents about once a week, but I would hate to be on the phone 30-40 minutes with each of my family every week.

Skype might be a good source for calling individuals, but then you would have to share your entire story or thoughts all over again with dozens of different people. Facebook is the right niche for me. And the optimization capabilities of Facebook allow me to communicate with only select people or everyone in my friends list. I can also scroll through status updates of everyone or choose to hide some of my friends from my feed. I have hidden a few people because of language or such, but mostly I am interested in finding out what is going on in the life of my family and friends.

Some people have ridiculed Facebook users for TMI (too much information). Others accuse many Facebook users of being "lurkers", people who read statuses but never share anything. Then there are the complaints about the status hogs, people who seem to promote themselves at every turn. Perhaps the biggest concern is Facebook addiction. And who can forget about the grannies sharing their grandkid photos every day.

But think about the last gathering of family and friends you attended. Typically there is someone who starts discussing something that did not need to be public knowledge. Generally there is someone there that only listens and makes very few comments. Someone is sure to be the attention of every conversation and always seem to find someway to talk about themselves. Every group will have people addicted to something: food, fitness, TV, videogames, sports, music, drinking, etc., and Facebook isn't any different. And you certainly will have someone who wants to show you photos of their grandkids.

Facebook is a tool, and like all tools you have to know how to use it. Don't gripe and complain about the tool just because you have not taken time to learn how to use it. Granted, it would be easier if Facebook did not keep changing things up on us. But how long would it last if it stayed the same? In today's high tech industry, consumers have shown businesses that they must constantly change and provide something new and exciting or people will flock to another app or tool.

Most Facebook users could benefit from this article about Facebook Etiquette. You may want to share this with your Facebook Friends.

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