ellen4641
Facebook can certainly serve as a great tool for reconnecting with chums from a long, long time ago.. (like Davydd says)
Yeah the older you get the more amazed you are in reconnecting.
I signed up way back in 2007 but never used Facebook until this winter and partly because of discussion in this topic sucked me in. Among the people I know there has been a virtual explosion in use starting over the holidays. I find it kind of fascinating. Even though my wife is signed on, she is still kind of bewildered by it but I noticed now that quite a bit of our family and extended family is on that she is starting just this week posting on their walls. I've always been more outgoing online (since 1984) than in real life. In real life I could be a hermit if you let me. But once the bartender knows my name watch out.
Since I have been an online junkie so long and was part of the original AOL startup team I have always been fascinated how people interact online. Roadfood is interesting and there are two other forums I spend time on that I have actually met some of the participants. Facebook is more about people already knowing someone and friending them. Most all of my friends I have actually met with the exception of a few Roadfooders whom I would like to meet.
Of the friends I actually know be it family, old school friends, work friends, etc., I've notice many are like my wife but are just starting to figure it out. My sister-in-law came out of her shell yesterday and I suspect partly because my wife wrote on her wall. I think as Facebook friends "mature" online there will be fewer awkward meaningless status updates and maybe more genuine interaction. I try, though not always apparent, to be topical, joking, are setting up something with my status updates. Many status updates just convey a mood and that might be significant to some friends and a complete mystery to others.
What I do find a bit undeveloped in concept are the groups like Roadfood is my Life. The structure is under used but incapable of being a substitute for the real Roadfood.com forum. But Facebook groups could add a new dimension to friendships and maybe some day there will be a true link between forums like Roadfood.com and Facebook so one can move between them more transparently. A link to the real Roadfood.com Forums instead of the lame discussion board in the Groups might be, could be, maybe should be the future.
