Facebook has me in it's grasp...

OK, I'd like to think I can hold my own in the lands of trends and cutting edge. I don't get swallowed up by it, but I can interact with it well and know basic terminology, like "blog", "Podcast", and even "TomKat".

There was something about Facebook, though, that made me say, "I just don't want to go there" for the longest time. I don't know what it was. Maybe I am getting older, more resistant to "new stuff". Then again, I am going to be in line tonight at midnight with all the crazies when "Fallout 3" comes out. For the PC, of course! none of that wussy console gaming...except Wii. :)

Maybe it's the bad taste in my mouth from MySpace. I just got tired of it, you know? The busy pages, the spam bulletins, the "watching my youth group kids turn out to be completely amoral while online..."

Maybe it's just that I'm actually getting responsible and don't have as much time to waste...Nah that couldn't be it. After all I blog! :)

So while everyone was telling me for months, "hey you need to be on Facebook so you can communicate with everyone!" I said, "nah, you can always text me". I know, that is soooo 2006... what can I say I'm set in my ways.

But then, the unthinkable happened. My wife joined Facebook. Now all of a sudden, the stakes are raised, because now my wife is MORE CUTTING EDGE THAN ME. Problem!

Ok, no not really. But then she started finding high school friends (not at ALL an incentive for me, except about 5 people) and youth group buddies (much bigger incentive) and college roommates (ok, I'm considering it now) and friends from previous ministries (alright, maybe if you sign me up) and that even Grandma June had a Facebook and I didn't (that's low, dear...)

So last week she signed me up on Thursday.

By Friday I had 25 friends.

By Saturday it was 50.

On Sunday I had more friends than her, was still going, and reclaimed my rightful role as Extrovert of the House.

Now it has it's claws in me for good, because I don't have to IM separately all the time or worry about weird bulletins coming up (for now, I'm sure we'll get some great hacks coming out soon).

So far, productivity remains solid. for now.

I guess it just goes to show you how we need communication. I'll be the first to admit I'm not one of those guys who keeps up with old friends very well. Not because I don't want to, but because of the effort and time that communication requires, and it usually gets cramped out by the daily details of life. I doubt I'm alone in that method of thinking and living, you know?

But it is important to maintain relationships, and I guess anything that helps us do that is good, even if it's billed as a time waster....

oooh, hang on, got another friend notification...