Hangin' out with my Facebook friends

Back in December when our college intern, Lauren, was developing a fascination with Google maps, I found myself enthralled with another online site.

Now, almost three-months later, my secret is out.

I am a Facebook fanatic. There, I’ve said it.

I had heard about the site for several years and even ignored a couple of friends’ invitations because I could not imagine that this site would hold any appeal for me. I checked out the competing MySpace, but found that I quickly lost interest.

But then… an old foreign exchange student friend from Brazil sent a Christmas greeting that referenced his Facebook blog. Youngest Daughter assisted me in viewing the blog from her Facebook account (though we had to translate it from Portuguese). My first comment was left from Youngest Daughter’s account.

Soon, I signed up for my own account and quickly connected with some old high school band friends. Yep, I was a band nerd.

I have to admit it was pretty cool to connect with the people that were such an influence in my life almost thirty years ago. I might see some of these people at a high school reunion, but those that were a year ahead or a year behind me in school, I might never have made the connection had it not been through the Facebook friends.

For the first few weeks it was quite novel. By following status updates, I knew who was sick, who was adopting a child, what sports teams my friends were cheering, even who was cooking dinner. I learned through the info section, what people had accomplished in their careers. Through a high school “In Memoriam” group, I found out which of my high school alumni had passed on.

Then came the pictures. Oh, my… there is nothing like some old friend digging through a photo album to post old photos that had long been forgotten.

My friend Schelly (after whom Middle Daughter was named) took the cake. I think she was just hoarding bad pictures of all of us, waiting for the right time to roll them out.

“What were we doing?” I asked about one of the less than flattering photos she posted.

After viewing several, one thing became clear; we were not as cool as we thought we were.

“I just realized what a geek I was in high school,” I commented.

“No, you weren’t, I didn’t like geeks,” an old boyfriend commented in reply. “You were a cutie, that’s why I liked you.” How sweet, I guess he hasn’t realized that he, too, was a geek!

Of course, keep in mind Facebook comments may not always be a good thing as evidenced by posted memories of things our parents never knew happened… like fitting 23 people in the Plymouth Fury of the only person with whom my mother would let me ride in a car. In my defense, I warned you I was a geek.

After a few months as a Facebook fan, I must say I still don’t understand all facets of the site. The games and gifts hold little appeal to me. Therefore, I have not spent much time exploring those aspects of the site. There are groups for just about everything, from alumni pages to Harry Potter fan pages. But what I have discovered, that is most exciting, is that a business can have a Facebook page. Are you beginning to see where this is going?

So… last week the Port Lavaca Wave rolled out its new Facebook page. Now visitors to our website can easily click a link to our Facebook page and see the Port Lavaca Wave fans. Of course the opposite is also true: Facebook visitors can visit our page and see the latest news feeds through RSS Connect.

In a nutshell, this means that our online advertisers have the added benefit of their ad being viewable when Facebook users click to read the full story and Facebook users may keep up with news feeds, easily write on our wall, and start new discussion topics.

While we are still fine tuning some website and Facebook features, online readers have an additional outlet for interaction with Wave editors and reporters. It is also an opportunity to connect with Wave Online readers from afar.

Last night, I received a text message from my sister, in Indiana, “OMG. I think you are addicted to Facebook, lol.”

Then came her follow-up text.

“Actually, I think it’s a great idea. I was just giving you a hard time.”

Later after checking the site, I sent her a response. “You know, if you were going to harass me, you could have at least become a fan.”

Yep. My secret is definitely out; there is no denying that I have become a Facebook fanatic.