To Facebook or not to...

Maybe it's a girl thing, we just love networking and chatting and gossiping, but the men in my life HATE facebook. "Don't believe in it" says one. "Tragic" says another. "Get a life" says yet another. One friend, who has his own facebook page, replies via email instead of on the "wall", because he doesn't know how to use it.

I've had my facebook page for almost a year, and in the last few months I've finally had time to explore what it can do. I have been able to find old friends, and it's fun, lots of fun. I have found three girls I went to school with. Several friends from uni. Friends from old workplaces. Friends from mothers' groups. Many of these people, due to geography and name changes, I haven't spoken to for 20 or 30 years.

Unlike the kids who "have" Facebook, I only have a handful of "friends", meaning they are actual friends, people I know and like. The teenagers have hundreds of "friends" and to me, they are mere acquaintances, often enemies! It's very uncool for a parent or a middle-aged person to "have" Facebook, and one of my friends was admonished by her teen daughter, who said, "Mum, you're not cool enough to have Facebook".

But I have found people older than me. Even grandparents! What an easy way to keep in touch with family and friends, by posting photos and a brief diary entry whenever you like. Just don't tell the teenagers, or the men in our lives, that we're signing up...