I didn't used to Facebook, but now I do. I got sucked into FB this Fall by relatives. Certain of my close relatives stopped keeping in touch with me and said that if I wanted to know what they were up to i needed to just join FB. So, I reluctantly joined. Just like Nikki, I sometimes 'lurk' without posting on GW, for months on end... Mainly this happens when I get hit by one or more life crises. Crises that will put my GardenWebbing on hold include: *Family getting military orders to move overseas, which caused me to lose garden space...We were all packed & had sold our home and were in the airport when the orders got cancelled at the last minute and we had to suddenly find another place to live in the same city we thought we were exiting. None of the affordable places to live had any garden space! :P *Looking for a job in a state 2000 miles from where I was raised, to increase family income so we could afford a place with a garden-- This search was hampered by culture shock and racial discrimination. Racism isnt supposed to happen here, but it happens anyway. * Finding job after 5 months then losing said very hard to find job 2 months later, due to global recession. * My husband's surgery to repair an injury * My own severe illnesses and surgeries--I had more than one health emergency last year, possibly due to all the stress. *Grieving loss of family member (includes loss of pregnancy). * Going back to college, then having to drop back out due to economic and health factors. Last year (2009) was insanely stressful for me because I had all of the above crises occur within one year! They say God never gives us more than we can handle. And I handled it alright. But sometimes I wish God didn't trust me to get through so very much, LOL ;) These are the sorts of situations that can easily throw my life out of wack and require me to take a break from GW. It just happened this past year that I needed a really LONG break because my life had just gotten too harsh for me to even keep a garden. Well, I'm glad to finally be back and to have a garden again. :)

It's nice of you to offer, but, I did have a facebook profile, etc, and I don't have much to post. I like my privacy, I am not a Farmville fan. My best friend and aquaintences eyes glaze over, when I describe the Live oak with an insane grin on my face, or the White oak etc etc. but as long as I can use this forum as an outlet, and not have all my personal info available to all, I'm more confortable. There are a couple who have my address, but I have theirs, from seed swaps and as long as they aren't stalking me, I ain't stalkin them. Joking but you get the gist.

Friend A is in a Public group if you're seeing her activity in the group. And Facebook is allowing her activity in that group to be displayed in your news feed because you're friends with her. Since Friend A and Friend B are not friends with each other on FB, then A's group posts will not appear in B's news feed. In Public groups, anyone who views the group's page can see the content, posts and replies. Only members who have joined the group have posting privileges (creating a new Post, or Replying to an existing post). Non-members cannot post comments. However, non-members can still have limited interaction. Non-members can "Like" or "Share" an initial post. Non-members can also "Like" comments below the initial post. The scenarios where you could be the conduit between A and B and Public group is if you "Share" or "Like" anything that A has posted in that group. In that case, any of your friends (including B) would be able to see your participation because the group is public. So if you don't want anything from that group spread by you, don't click Like or Share. (Someone else that is friends with both A and B could be the conduit, but you can't control that.) You can block items from that group showing up in your feed. Next time a post from that group shows up in your feed, look in the upper right corner of the post. You will see three dots. Click on those dots, one of the options you see should be "Hide all from Group XYZ". To verify the group is Public, go to the group's page. On the upper left, just below the group's name, it will show Open or Closed. This chart explains group, but it leaves out the "Share" and "Like" scenarios I mentioned: What are the privacy settings for groups Exhausting, isn't it?

More than 20 years ago I was a regular participant in a music board on AOL that was very active and popular. One of the most active and popular of the boards was for an artist I had done some work for and knew personally, and let me tell you whatever has transpired here is nothing compared to what I experienced there. The artist herself frequented the board and it was nightmarish what eventually happened. Several of us had people impersonate us by subtle changes in email screen names (changing an L to an i or a 1 for an L etc). It was eye opening and an unsavory introduction to internet life. The artist is a songwriter, and one of the members tried to submit a manuscript to her at a function. She did not accept it and that was the beginning of the end. You have never seen such filth (yes, I am a Christian but I certainly am no prude and have been known to let loose with some salty words) and nastiness. Made up stories, fights-there were wars between members who had met in person and it all got absorbed on the board-I never believed adults would act like this. And it went all over the then very narrow web. I vowed to cherish the personal relationships in my life and to not get down or depressed by what I was reading on my computer screen. It took me a while to develop a thick skin towards it, but I had to in order to stay happy. After all, it is the lives we lead with our families and friends that are real and make for our happy places, not internet stuff.