The Pro's and Con's of FaceBook

When I first joined Facebook, I heard often from many cynical people that Facebook was BAD. I was informed constantly of the statistics of spouses who were cheating on their husbands/wives with old flames that they had "reconnected" with on FB. I heard over and over why I shouldn't be on FB and why I shouldn't let my husband, and if I was going to put myself in "harms way" I should at least avoid having old boyfriends as 'friends' and I should check my husbands friend list constantly.

Over and over I would repeat that EVERYTHING in life has its pro's and con's.

I love facebook for the convenience it is in helping me stay in touch with old friends and even family members near and far. I love to hear about the things that they are doing and absolutely LOVE to see the pictures that they post of themselves and their families. I love that in a click of a keyboard, I too can catch them up on my day/week/month etc. It has been a great way to keep in touch even with the immediate family. Invitations are distributed, and even family events have been coordinated and planned on our family group page.
I love to joke and goof around with my current friends also on FB, even if I did see them earlier in the day. To me it is a fantastic way to keep in touch and has been my FUN place.

As I was telling a friend at work about something that I had seen on FB, she started telling me about FB statistics. I was prepared to tell her my regular response about how careful I am online. How I don't chat with people, how my husband knows my password etc. But the things she was warning me about weren't the usual thing. She started telling me about how it was taring families apart. About how people are typically more bold when sitting behind the keyboard of their computer and can say things that they normally wouldn't say to somebody face to face. Therefore many family feuds are being caused on line. Well, until now I've seen a few take place in other peoples families, but never had experienced it myself. However, this week I've seen it happen first hand.

I have an Aunt who tends to rant. The way she goes off, makes us all think that she is actually under the influence of a mood altering substance. Because most of it doesn't make a whole lot of sense, and her spelling is atrocious. But, I can't be certain. But this is the third attack she has made on something my sister posted as her status. Comment after comment she rants. This time it was about a comment my sister made about the mayan calendar ending in 2012 and thus the "end of the world". Evidently, to her this was all about the LDS beliefs and somehow in the whole rant, the family doesn't believe in recycling and evidently this also has to do with LDS beliefs....ya...whatever! Anyway she posted on one of my cousins pages that my family are all jerks and ranted there as well. Well, the backlash this has set off has been really sad. I'm embarrassed for her and feel very sorry for whatever is lacking in her life that she seems to find it necessary to insult us. But needless to say, I'm thinking that this will have lasting effects.

I'm starting to think that there are certain people that are great to have as 'friends'. Those who know us well, that know our sense of humor and can have fun and joke with us. Then there are those who we have 'reconnected' with, friends that we knew way back when and will probably never see again. But family members that we see once or twice a year who are opinionated and have a drinking problem should probably be left off of the friend list from now on.

So, like everything in life. FB has it's pro's and con's. I have to admit, I made a few comments in retaliation. Probably something I shouldn't have done. But I felt it necessary to stand behind my sister and show support for her. But at this point I have chosen to walk away. From now on, FB is my fun spot again and I am choosing to find the pro's in it. Hopefully soon it will all be happy again.