Our social selves

I have to admit, over the years, I have see-sawed on the whole issue of Facebook’s worth. I don’t know why, now. Facebook seems downright friendly on most days. Oh, there’s a set-to or a debate every now and then, especially if someone doesn’t like an image someone else posted and “comments” to that effect. Or, occasionally, someone takes exception to a stand taken on an issue and the unfriending thing happens. All in all, though, I’ve come to think of Facebook as a newfashioned Schoharie and Cherry Valley Social Section.

For those of you who’ve been around for a few or more years, the Social Section was a column, of sorts, in The Picton Gazette. It was social media way before the Internet opened up the lines of communication amongst “friends.” Most likely, Mark Zuckerberg’s parents or grandparents would have been familiar with the social section of a small town newspaper. Even if they were big town folks, they would have read the social sections of their local print publications.

The old social section news, if it could be called “news,” was all about lovely gatherings for light lunches, tea with friends, family visits, day trips and supper on Sunday. The Social Section regaled readers with a bit of who went where, on which day and with whom, which was published in one of the twiceweekly printings of the “Gadget.” If you wanted your family’s event covered, you simply telephoned (a person only had to dial five digits when I arrived in Picton) or wrote out, in long hand, the details and delivered the goods to the newspaper office. Whether it appeared in the Tuesday paper that hit the street on Wednesday or the Thursday paper that hit the street on Friday, the Social Section wasn’t something you actually bragged about reading, but you know almost everyone read it.

So, now we have Facebook and, often, our Facebook friends are people we only meet with on Facebook. The social news section of most newspapers has all but disappeared because we like this more immediate way to share our life events. If a proposal of marriage was made during dinner, by the time the waiter brings the check, the image of the engagement ring (and often an image of the remains of dessert) has been posted for all 400 friends and family to “like”, “comment” and/or “share.” And, “like”, “comment” and “share” we do. Facebook brings us the babies who are just blips on the ultrasound screen and over the next months, the belly photos. Birthdays, birth days, family reunions, friends on decks, people doing stupid things, oodles of cute dogs and cats, ducks flying in formation, people marching to a different drummer, statuses without pictures and endless albums of trees, water and flowers. We were, and continue to be, very sociable. We share our lives, our ups and downs, our disappointments and our triumphs, our happiness and our sorrow.

Recently, a Facebook friend met me in person for the first time. Neither one of us really knew who the other was, except I happened to be wearing my Arts Council name tag. I like both ways of meeting friends, but it’s easier to “like,” “comment” and “share” a coffee in person.

theresa@wellingtontimes.ca