Friends? Indeed!

“Whoa, Dad, you have no friends!” my son informed me last night when he was helping sign me up for a new Facebook group he’s created (Let’s Bring the Space Shuttle to Boston).

Really, it’s not “no” as in “none,” I said in my defense. To me, there’s a whole bunch of folks. It’s just that in contrast to his teen-aged sphere of influencers, or his mother’s expansive social circle, my collection of friendly faces is rather anemic.

But I can live with that. For me, on a personal level at least, having the time and bandwidth to keep track of 10 or 20 or 50 people is plenty. (At work it’s a very different story, where we measure our “friends” by the thousands.) In fact, whether at work or at home, it’s all about why you want to stay in touch and how much effort you want to put in.

For my son, FB is a platform to share comments, crack wise, and otherwise connect with his buddies from school, his ham radio club, assorted astronomers, family members, and others. FB is the flip side of text messaging, with the bonus of links and images.

My wife uses FB for business and pleasure, swapping PR pointers as well as pointed comments with several hundred acquaintances, from the governor to fabled Red Sox players, local media types, and many more. She works at it, and her network works for her. That’s as it should be.

My sister, a rather late adopter of the site, now trolls FB in search of old classmates, workmates, and others from her past. She thinks it’s funny that I don’t much care about these bygoners. I’m OK with that. My brother too has built an impressive network, mostly to promote his documentary and his varied music and media interests. Good for him.

Social media is all about what you need and what you’ve got to give in return. And, of course, who’s on the other end of the line. It’s public platform versus personal touch. So if you’re looking for me on Facebook, I’ll be there when I have something to say to my friends.


P.S.: If you’re reading this, you might notice that it’s been a while since I last checked in. Heck, sorry, I’ve been busy. Since that last item was about summer on the beach, let’s just pretend I wrote it the other day and here I am again today. Welcome back!