Facedown

Well, its official. I'm hooked on Facebook. And it only took a month. Here are the reasons why:

In just 6 weeks, I've been able to get in touch with over 75 friends, many of whom I haven't talked to in years, including a number of high school classmates, former co-workers, and former campers (from my days at Camp Indecon). Surprisingly, many people my age and older are on Facebook. It is not just for college kids any more.

Because of these connections, I am recapturing a bit of my youth. When I started my PhD program in 2004, I had to keep my head down and deeply focus on two things, my studies and my growing family. I became far more serious and gave far less effort into developing new friendships than I had previously in my life. In some ways, I lost the fun of my youth. Do not get me wrong, I love my family and have fun with my wife and kids. But it is a different kind of fun. I consiously choice to limit my friendships in favor of my two highest values.

As I started interacting with my old friends on Facebook, I realized what I was missing. It was my wickedly awesome sense of humor (that my kids are too young to get). Many thanks to Jobee, Ryan, and Collin (three of my best friends in high school) for helping me to get back my groove.

Some other things about Facebook:
I've played with a number of other Facebook apps, but I haven't found any one app that stands head and shoulders above the rest. I've tried the We're related, NetworkedBlogs, Where I've been, created a group, posted my blog with the notes feature. Mostly, they are a means of wasting time, with little to show for the effort.

All in all, Facebook rocks. As I refine my short-term goals, I'm sure Facebook will have a small place in the scheme of things, such as "Bringer of the Fun".