Friends?

After much deliberation and months of reservation, I have finally joined the Facebook craze. I have been having so much fun adding photos, picking friends, posting notes, etc. But, I now have a new series of thoughts.

1. Are these "friends" really my "friends"? I mean can I invite them for a family dinner and expect them to show up? Will they know me and can I cry on their shoulder or tell them the funny thing that the baby did last night? Actually, if I tell them, because I can write whatever I want on their wall, will they care? Or will they think I am a stalker nut and block me? (I'll let you know.) When I need a ride because my car has a flat tire, which of them will show up?

2. Are we so busy, caught up in our lives, trying to live that we forget to live? We forget to spend time to meet people...get to know people? Can we really connect this way? Or actually, are the connections real?

3. If our lives are so busy and we are so enthralled in ourselves (not negatively) that we can't get out to interact with the physical friends, how in the world will we have time for the 2000+ new friends we meet at the Facebook "cafe"?

I don't know....but, I know that I have already "connected" with someone from high school, someone that I haven't seen in over two years, another that I have been meaning to contact. So, I will enjoy the benefits of technology and this new venue of "keeping up".

But one thing, didn't our parents teach us not to write on walls? Some changes are going to have to be made in the teachings after all "typing on cyber walls" will have to be the known exception to the rule...right there with chalkboards.

Oh...an afterthought...but, quite important...do I really want to be "friends" with my kids? Do I really want to know what they are saying to their friends or is it better the way our parents had it...kept in the dark! (not from a prevention of internet predator perspective...perspective of I don't want to know that my kids curse or think they are gangsters when they clearly have no clue.)