For me, it happened a couple of months ago. I was at a birthday for one of my daughter’s little playmates and the mother was lamenting a poor turnout. “I facebooked everyone just yesterday, and they had other things going on already,” she said. The very next day someone else mentioned facebooking about something.
Talk about a bubble coming up from our pop cultural ooze and hitting me in the face. I realized then that this has been the Year of Facebook. Sure, the social networking site has been around a few years, and it’s probably going to be with us for some time to come, but it seemed as though it came of age in 2010. At least in my 
cohort of middle-aged, middle-income, professional types, it really penetrated, both drawing in those who staunchly resisted it into at least posting pictures and inducing the already enrolled to post on a semi-regular basis.
So, are we actually better connected because of Facebook? Or have we just developed the art of venting or crowing in bite-size meditations for an audience?
Everyone’s learning how to summarize their feelings in one sentence. Hollywood producers who bark, “Tell it to me in 25 words or less” would love it … if people actually had a story to tell. But many don’t. Twenty-five words, or two, are too many if you’re going to post “Mondays suck,” or “I hate it when it rains.”
Of course, many people don’t post much on Facebook. Like me, they’re satisfied posting photos occasionally and maybe commenting on other people’s posts. Then there are the frequent posters – the chatty folks who just can’t wait to share what’s on their minds with 300 of their closest friends. They come in several categories.
Uppers and downers: They may not feel more intensely than me and you, but they talk about it more. Simple things such as family, sunshine and Fridays delight them. They’re eager to let you know when they’re bummed too.
Scoreboard watchers: Sports fans so rabid about their favorite teams that they’ll let you know the score of games in progress. This is cute when the team is a perennial underdog. Cub fans are eminantly lovable. Scoreboard watchers are insufferable if they root for powerhouse teams. I unfriended someone who rooted for the Yankees publicly.
Gabby gourmands: Credit goes to Friendly Dave of East Portland Blog for typing this species. He quotes, “Rosemary lamb skewers with red wine and quinoa, yummers!” or “Chocolate ice cream marinated in chocolate sauce at the end of a tough week. Am I in heaven?” Some foodie posters will photograph their plates and post the images. I wondered if Dave were exaggerating, but a week later one of my friends did this very thing.
Politicos: Politics get people passionate, of course, and Facebook is one virtual soapbox that is hard to resist. Many posts are accompanied by YouTube videos of comedians or talk-show hosts ripping into the despised politician. It can be disturbing when one of the poster’s friends turns out to be an angry wack job from the other side.
So what is there to like about Facebook? It does facilitate some connection with faraway friends and family. My nephew posts a fair amount about the challenges for a Peace Corps mission in Africa, which tells me quality stuff about both him and struggling Cameroon (they really talk pidgeon English like Leonardo DiCaprio in “Blood Diamond”).
I like to read entries from friends going to shows by bands I like. Fans of Belle & Sebastien and Bright Eyes are a community I like to be a part of. When will the Magic Numbers tour the States? Unfortunately, none of my friends has weighed in about that.
I like off-the-wall entries such as, “I asked my son or a funny story from today. He said, “I pooped in a bottle.”” Another friend asked, “Can you disown your in-laws if they take your child to McDonald’s?”
Really, the conversations, when multiple people comment on a post, sometimes riffing off each other’s posts, are the best thing about Facebook. But, like so many good things, they’re rare.
Despite the various calls for people to reject Facebook, I think more and more people will “facebook.” And we connect more as a result, if not better.
Claude just finished a commentary on Facebook. Boy, does thinking make my brain hurt. I’m going eat a bar of dark chocolate now. Yum.
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