Okay, I did it. I signed up for a Facebook account. For months now, I've been answering "leave me alone" to the question "So, are you on Facebook?" I've been inundated with requests for well over a year now, and it was becoming a badge of honor for me that I just politely declined all such suggestions.
I can't say that I gave in to peer pressure. That wasn't it. I guess I wasn't ready to see the wonders of Facebook and the glorious worlds that it would open up for me. And I'm still not ready to admit that I was wrong. But I am ready to admit the possibility that I may have been mistaken. But I'm waiting to see. Sort of like the jury in the Conrad Black trial. They came back to the judge and said, "We can't decide." I love the judge's response: "Get your ass back in there and decide!" Seems the United States of America has more than one "decider"--besides the big guy, I mean. George W. I wonder is he on Facebook? I should check and, if he's there, maybe give him a poke. God knows, he could use one.
I won't go into my reasons for not joining Facebook until now. I guess I just considered myself too busy or whatever. I guess we all are, for that matter. It's all about making and keeping connections, or re-connecting with old friends, from what I understand. Okay. I'll buy that. But, as with so many things, I am a skeptic, but I am willing to see the light. If Facebook performs wonders for my social life, such as it is in its current state, then I am willing to admit I was wrong about it and I will buy the snake oil, I will drink the Kool-Aid, I will salute the flag, and I will kiss its ring.
It reminds me of the whole Star Wars phenomenon. I was a kid when it came into the theatres for the very first time, but I didn't see it because I wasn't a sci-fi fan. Everyone kept trying to persuade me to go because it was the newest and coolest thing that I "just have to see." I resented the pressure, so I never went. I stayed home and watched the radio. Sometimes I even turned it on. Then there was The Empire Strikes Back and The Return of the Jedi. Never saw either one until I was in my late twenties. Finally, after years of mental abuse by friends and family, all clamoring: "But you HAVE to see Star Wars? How can you not?" Resistance was futile, I guess, because I gave in and rented it on home video, and you know what?
I didn't like it.
Everyone raved about Yoda as the great philosopher. But all I saw was a cute muppet who spewed dimestore philosophy to the starving masses who had never heard such "wisdom" before. George Lucas was using Yoda and Obi Wan Kenobe as mouthpieces for a string of philosophical pearls that he knew would keep audiences coming back time and again.
The sad part is, I did. When Parts I, II, and II came into the theatres, I went to see each of them, even though I grew increasingly disenchanted with each one. Critics raved how the final film in the series was the best one since the first one.
I didn't like it. Hated it, in fact. Barely sat through it all without walking out. (I've never walked out of a theatre while the movie was still playing. Unless I had to go the bathroom, of course.)
Anyway, so I tend to be a johnny-come-lately. I rented the Godfather I and II a few years ago and fell asleep--through BOTH of them. I was just tired. No commentary on the movies there. And it wasn't that I'd been avoiding the Godfather trilogy for any great philosophical reasons. I just never got around to renting it.
So now there's Facebook. After I'd successfully avoided MySpace for a couple of years, there's a new e-kid on the block. We'll have to see how it goes.
I'd say I'll give it a try, but as Yoda knows: "There is no try, only do or do not."
So I did. Anyone care to tell me why?
G
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