Social Networks - To Facebook or Not to Facebook

For years I was a Facebook resister despite all the people telling me I had to get on Facebook. Normally being told  I "have" to do something that is clearly optional is not an argument I take seriously. Eventually I gave in to my brother's plea that I sign up so my friends and classmates who frequented his business in my hometown would stop asking him, "when is you sister going to get on Facebook?"

So nine years ago (I had to look to find out when I actually joined, April 2007) I created an account, added a few of my real-life friends, and eventually even dug up an acceptable profile photo. At first my relatively slow-moving news feed just served as brief relief from scanning middle school drivel and all those duck-face photos I encountered when spot-checking my kid's account.

Over time more friends and family appeared, and I began to appreciate being able to keep up with their life events even though we are geographically scattered. Then, somewhere between the "takeover" of Facebook by adults and the deluge of cat videos and political rants, Facebook launched groups.

Again, at first I wasn't sold but as the number and intensity of kid activities ramped up, I came to view Facebook groups as a time-saving gift from the digital gods. Facebook groups made communicating with individuals involved in an activity so simple. I became silently impatient with adults who refused to join Facebook and wanted individual emails. Who has time to wrangle an unwieldy email list when I can quickly post that last-minute schedule change to the group?

Interestingly, it seems I've re-created my slow-to-adopt Facebook strategy with Twitter. I made an account several years ago to be able to see one thing which I can't even remember now. Late last week a friend sent me an early morning Facebook message, saying "Congratulations" to my son. She saw his news on Twitter. My son on Twitter? I know he doesn't have an account.

I signed into my never-used feed and after poking around a bit found his high school principal had tweeted congratulations to him for an award he had won. I guess maternal vanity finally wore me down. I am now following the principal, the school, the school corporation; my older son's university, his college within the university and its marching band; the college my youngest will attend in the fall and its athletic programs; and my employer. Better late than never, I guess. I don't anticipate using Twitter nearly as much as Facebook, but I'll be ready if it comes up with the next great digital option.