But of course I am, what
a silly question, I think. And throw in a ‘yes’.
“Add me?”
This conversation took
place not too long ago. You’d be pleased to know that this particular
individual and I are now indeed Facebook friends. I am one of many, many
Facebook friends (some might say a slightly insane amount) and, in return,
joined my just over 300 people Facebook friend list. We might also be more than just Facebook friends by now, not that that matters here, really.
10 years ago, Facebook
was born. I was sceptical, I had emails and MSN what did I need Facebook for.
And then my best friend from home moved to the US and said that she would be
easier to reach via Facebook than email – what a shocking revelation at the
time – so I caved and joined. That was August 2007.
At first I didn’t really
use it. Then it spiralled a bit out of control and Facebook took over slightly.
Currently, we have a bit of a hot-and-cold relationship, the Facebook and I;
some days I will use it a lot to communicate with my friends and share things
and other times I do a quick, once a day check to see if anyone messaged me.
Those of us who are not
on Facebook are still the odd ones out. I can only think of a handful of people
who aren’t and there have been a number of times when I have had to invite them
to a birthday party of tell them about something funny specifically because
they aren’t. I admire their commitment to stay away from such a popular social
media tool and thus consciously excluding themselves from something that has
become so powerful in our every day lives.
But a life without
Facebook is still hard to imagine. It has been with me throughout the last 10
years of my life, documenting highs and lows (some now removed), kept me up to
date with my friends living half-way across the world, has been the basis for
some wonderful gossip, and has forever immortalized some memories.
And with Facebook
celebrating its birthday with “Facebook Lookback”
and a number of other things it is only natural to think about the impact
Facebook has had on my life. While you might love or hate Facebook, there is no
way denying that it was much of the starting point for the way we communicate
and interact with each other these days.
Facebook has made
communicating with each other, no matter where you are, that much easier. Talk
to your friends in Australia, not a problem. Talk to your housemate in the room
next door, just as easy. Facebook achieved what social media platforms that
came before it, such as MySpace, never could. It is a great tool to keep a
rather big group of people up to date with what is going on in your life as
well as allowing for rather intimate interactions. In 2013, Facebook users
shared approximately 41,000
posts per second, according to online-advertising company Qmee — that's
more than 2.4 million posts every minute worldwide. Crazy isn’t it?
Not only has it changed
the way we share our personal lives and interact with each other, it has also
influenced politics and caused its fair share of controversy about cyber bullying.
And while it is social media overall that has been used to bully teens online,
not just Facebook, it does not mean that it is in any way a less powerful tool.
There are regular stories of teens jumping of bridges and hanging themselves
because of the way they have been tormented by their online bullies.
Having gone through my
fair share of bullying at school, I have to admit that I am grateful that this
was restricted to people at school, and not also online. It might be easy to
say that it is “silly” or “stupid” to commit suicide over something like people
insulting you and calling you names online but when you are trapped in a
situation like it, there is nothing worse in the world. Trust me. I ended up
repeating a year at school and then moving myself to Australia because I simply
couldn’t face going to school and having to breathe the same air as the people
who bullied me. I simply stopped going, instead hiding from the world at home.
The power that Facebook
and social media in general have these days is astonishing. It is beautiful and
scary at the same time. You can look at the horrible aspects but Facebook also
has some amazing stories to tell. The homeless poet whose life got turned
around by a Facebook page; the twin sisters who were adopted and raised on
different continents before finding each other via social media.
Facebook has compiled
some powerful, touching and interesting stories in their “Ten Stories” site. It is amazing
to see how different the lives of some people could have been without the site.
My personal favourite is “Twinsters” and “Kimmy and Will”. Twinsters because I
always wanted a twin sister – unfortunately, as my mother informed me at the
age of 4 it is not something one can ask for; and Kimmy and Will because so much
of their story resonates with me. I read it last night while going to bed and
suddenly found tears streaming down my face; quiet, touched ones.
You can read Kimmy and
Will’s story here and
the Twinster’s here.
To be fair, all then stories are worth reading and engaging with but these two
are close to my heart. Go on, have a read. Enjoy.
And when you are done indulge yourself in some
great Facebook themed YouTube videos; just for good measure:
10 staggering Facts about
Facebook – Alltime 10s
The Facebook Song --
Lynnea Malley (Caution, very catchy!)
An Annoying Facebook Update In Real Life
You Posted that on Facebook? – Ellen DeGeneres
If you haven’t had enough
yet you can watch Youtube
Mix of Facebook related Videos – HELLO PROCRASTINATION!
And if YouTube isn’t your thing, or you have so much
time on your hands that you have finished watching all of them, Mashable has some great
opinion pieces and info graphics (I love a good info graphic) on their site.
Image credits
Facebook cabdles- Tech Gooner
Wisphering women - Mashable