I don't have a face. . . . . . . (book account)

A confession. . . .

I don't tweet

I don't pinterest

And I don't know how to social network. (on the computer).

For those of you who have pretty much ever had a conversation with me, the topic of Facebook has come up and my personal feelings about the huge entity that it has become.  For those of you who have not, please indulge me.

My opinions have not generated from the documentary we watched about Facebook's ploy to gain marketing and personal information from its members, nor so much from this study that discusses the emotional effects that logging on causes, though they do justify my decision.

My conclusion has come merely from my own introspective nature of myself.  I have certain technological guidelines that I have created for my way of living.  Technology is a WONDERFUL thing- it is pretty much a necessity in my life, but I don't think that just because things are available/accessible, you have to use them.

For example, I also love texting.  It is a fabulous way to communicate select types of information.  But if your text is more than 2 screens long, you should have called.  Heck, send an email, but really, do I have to sort through 4 screens to understand the "message" you are trying to convey?

And don't even get me started on the lack of appropriate content in a text.  If you are breaking up with someone, call them or at least go to their face.  If you have a "sensitive" issue, don't try to cram it into a limited screen that also allows you to use emoticons.  Which leads me to Facebook.

Facebook has devalued the word "Friend".  To me, I know my friends' birthdays because I have celebrated with them, not because it tells me on their page.  A friend is someone who I would, as Jimmy Kimmel stated, feel comfortable loaning $20 to.  I feel, that if you did not have the ability to "find" me before Facebook was invented, we probably weren't that good of friends in the first place.  Plus, let's be honest, there are times in my life that I don't want to "relive" with old acquaintances.

Now don't get me wrong, Facebook has good traits too: I love the public forum, the ability for those to communicate across the oceans, and provide single people a way to make their life more interesting.  The main reason why I don't start an account is because I know that I would spend unlimited amounts of useless time on it.  I feel that I would probably find myself sitting down and reading the ramblings of the day to day life of those around me, and neglect my home, children and self.  That may sound like a lack of self control, but I know that once the cyberworld sucks you in, I delay things, and  I just can't be accountable for that.

So for now, (since I have sucked 5 minutes out of your day), my blogging will count as my social networking, and for those of you who want to get ahold of me, you know how to find me.