Don’t Judge a (Face)book by its Cover

It seems to be trendy to express contempt for Facebook. “I would never waste my time with that,” or “why would I care that someone is buying a sandwich?” are a few common retorts I heard recently. It fascinates me that socially liberal people who gladly accept anyone based on their race, gender or age quickly dismiss others based on their technology.

When I tell them I love Facebook, I am immediately downgraded in their opinion as someone whose mental age hovers around puberty.

I love Facebook because it becomes what you make of it. When I open my Live Feed every morning for a few minutes, I immediately feel connected to my friends, family and community.

Some of my favorites from this morning are:

• A new photo on Mila’s Daydreams, where a photographer mom on maternity leave posts photos of her napping baby posed in imaginary tableaus – aaawww!
• The mention of a great Italian restaurant on Sonoma County, CA that looks like a must-try for our family
• An article posted by SFGate.com on Proposition 8 and how the federal trial will provide a discourse on the subject of same-sex marriages that never happened during the election
• A webinar offered by Writer’s Digest later this week on getting your memoir noticed by agents and editors – great timing for me so I will definitely listen to this.
• A great photo of my niece who lives far away in Georgetown.
• And finally, The Pie Palace on 4th Street has fresh brown butter nectarine pies – make note, stop by the Pie Palace today!

The connection goes both ways. When I post photos of Ethan at a baseball game or my latest piece of writing, I am giving my family and friends a look at our lives today even though they are in Minnesota, Iowa, Florida or Kansas. We quickly make contact and then move on with our day-a very good thing in a world that moves so quickly.

So to all of the Facebook haters out there, try it first before dismissing it, or better yet, practice a little tolerance for those who are technologically different from you.