Not fair, discussing FB issues here in front of those of us who don't FB! ;-)~

Sorry. I just invited frank discussion about building 'Mom' a house on our property by my Facebook post about it. Posting a picture and stating the reason/challenge brought out the family comments. They were made privately and I welcomed private conversation from the next generation. Her grand children.

Mostly got thumbs up but had to deal with a GD who lives locally, took offense but hasn't visited her in 15 years. She was offended. And I promise I was kind, didn't place or suggest blame but told her the truth. She messaged me privately, very defensive and I lovingly set her straight.

Gosh, I wish I had more patience for editing. I just read my own post and I am ashamed of how I repeat myself. LOL!

But AJ....even "I" FB occasionally...!

Get with the program Woman....;-)

Faron

I agree Faron, FB is a blast! What I don't get is how some users have 400-500 friends. I have a 106, and sometimes I think, I don't *know* a 106 people! lol.

I've been asked to be friends with a lot of people, some who were only acquaintances in high school, and I have to ignore the invite. If I don't know and/or like someone, they aint seeing my page. :) Not that I say anything personal.

Because of today, which is the anniversary of my brother's death, our old crowd from our late teen years to our 20's, which included both my brother and I, all hooked up on FB because of his death. We even created a private page with my brother as the Profile Picture.

FB has been a Godsend for me. There have been several reunions now because of his death, and I've talked to several of them on the phone.

Love me some FB!

Nah. I used to be a FB'er, but it's just not my thing anymore. I'm one of those now who openly shuns it.
;-)

I usually don't mix the two. My FB statuses, are usually not about decorating and my house and endless renovations at all. Usually about the kids, just like today's status update. I try to keep it light and fun.

I like it b/c we have family and Europe, and it's so much easier to skype through FB, and keep them involved with pics of the kids, rather than going to the post office to mail them updated pics a few times a year.
But I get what AJ is saying. I have a lot of friends who live their lives so they can post it on FB. Their entire lives are broadcasted for all their FB friends to see, almost so they can get as many comments as possible. Very annoying, nothing is sacred, and seriously I don't need a play by play update of your night out to dinner with friends or your office Christmas party.
And just as you posted about your MIL house on FB and a family member took offense to it, the same thing happened in my family. I have to be careful about what is posted, b/c I have an Aunt that started a family war b/c she wasn't invited to my daughter's birthday party. She would have never known about it if my SIL didn't upload a pic from her iPhone. Sometimes you have no control over it.

But I really do think that house is adorable. I may have to do the same in the future for my own mother. I never commented on either FB or here, and I kept meaning to.

"Very annoying, nothing is sacred, and seriously I don't need a play by play update of your night out to dinner with friends..."
Polly, I so agree with you (& with your stance, Auntjen.)

I love ya to pieces, Golddust...I mean I think you're a truly amazing woman, but Facebook, not so much, LOL! Not that you use it in the manner Polly describes, I am sure.

I have a FB page, but don't really use it. When I check in on occasion I'm flabergasted by the number of comments I find like: "Just heading out the door...make a great day everyone!" or "Just had a great run, wow, what a beautiful sunset!!!" or "An old man just told me my gorgeous smile really made his day." Pee-uke! Spare me the joy.

If I didn't need a FB account to play Scrabble, I would not have one.

I don't think everyone realizes how much information one can glean just by having their name listed. There really is very little privacy.

Here is an instance where FB was used in a positive light.

A few weeks ago, tragically an old friend of mine was murdered by her husband who kidnapped their 2 children, and then later committed suicide leaving these 2 beautiful girls orphans. They will now be raised by their loving Aunt and Grandmother (both on Mom's side). An old friend of the grandmother started a donation page to raise funds for the Grandmother to help with the financial strain of raising a 5 year old and 1 1/2 year old. Friends of the victim, including myself posted on FB asking friends to help them during this tragic time and within 2 weeks, $75,000 raised.
The money will not bring her back, but it will ease the burden of legal costs and immediate needs of the girls. Grandmother of the girls has posted to her FB that even though her heart is broken into pieces, her faith in humanity has been restored by the kindness of friends, family and strangers for their support.

So, ya see? It's not all bad.

True story.

Gold, I just love you!

I'm such a FB fan, it is the only way for me to keep up with family & friends. I won't accept friend requests just to do it, I told DH that only people I would want to invite for dinner are on my list He's gotten requests from his brothers stepchildrens children and he doesnt even know them!

But I think of many here on GW as I would on FB. You're all invited to dinner at my house!

Stinky-gardener, you made me laugh..."Just heading out the door...make a great day everyone!" or "Just had a great run, wow, what a beautiful sunset!!!"

I have two facebook accounts, one is my personal account with just a few people and the other is in my deceased brothers name for cold case info. I have a young cousin who has a tot and a newborn who is on both accounts. She posts a zillion times a day telling every little detail of her childrens bowel movements, antics during urination, everything they say that she thinks cute, how many times a day she wipes their boogers and whatever fabulous thing she made for their breakfast lunch or dinner (with pictures). I know I sound horrible but she is really on my nerve.

Slight hijack..

I think fb can be a good thing and to each his own, you know. I'm also a fb shunner and my biggest beef has is that of posting pictures of OTHER PEOPLE. Besides me, I only know a handful of people that feel this way.

It used to be you'd go to Suzie's b-day party and take pictures. Those pictures then went in a photo album on the coffee table and close family and friends, the people you actually invited to your home, only saw them or they went into a box somewhere. Now you go to Suzie's b-day party, take pictures and post on your fb page. Maybe Suzie doesn't WANT her pictures posted on your page, you know? Now obviously if she has a page and posts photos all the time, that's different.

I've nicely asked people to remove my photos and it seemed to really irk them. I understand it's their property but it just feels like it crosses a line of privacy to me. If it were the other way around, I'd like to think I'd respect them enough to do so, even if I didn't 'get it' and thought it was 'stupid'. Even if your profile is private, some don't want your 746 friends, half of which you hardly know or were once in your high school Chem class, seeing photos of them. Eventually all of them removed the pics but you'd have thought I asked for a kidney.

Shee I am in complete agreement. IF - and that's a big if - I choose to post a picture of myself, it's my choice. I have asked people to remove my picture and made it clear I do not want to be tagged in anything and don't want my sons tagged, either. And that includes innocent family photos, too. We all know who the family members are - why tag? At first my 22 yr old thought I was being a nut case but now he gets it and has removed tags from anything he posts and asked others to do the same. Tagged photos have the potential to cause more trouble than kids can ever imagine - until it's too late.

Stinky wrote:

"Spare me the joy." I spewed coffee on my keyboard. I'm so stealing that one.
....

I always ask if I can post photos before I post them. It's true my GGS can't give his consent but I ask his mommy before.

I posted that house photo and spoke of our situation for several reasons. I have friends who have contacted me about how to change her insurance from an HMO to a PPO. I have a good friend who is a Psychologist. He called and offered tips on life change. I was contacted by a young family member who would not otherwise have given me her opinion.

I love Facebook because it is much like the school parking lot where so many parents bonded each day and went on with different lives after our children grew up. Now our kids have grown and we miss each other. Facebook is the new parking lot and social time board meeting place. I do more private messaging than public Facebooking. (Cooperbailey, we had a fun exchange.)

Yes. I announce road trips and other daily activities, generally with a particular person in mind. And Pesky, I made your words part of my Happy New Years declaration. LOL! (I gave proper tribute.)

Facebook is awesome.

I know more people who love Facebook than feel about it as I do. If it works for you - great! I did indulge myself in it for quite some time, but since I've distanced myself I find that I resent the notion that it's something that suits all of us. I blame the media and Corporate America in general. If I want to know more about a product, I'm encouraged to "Like" the manufacturer on Facebook. If I want more news from my local sources, I'm encouraged to "check out our Facebook page for more info." It's so much more than just a widely used social outlet - there's a thinly veiled insistence that we assimilate or be left out. And I don't take well to anyone even so much as hinting that I assimilate. ;-)

Facebook brought me together with a large number of people from my past, and in most cases it became evident to me quickly why we parted ways and our relationship was left in the past. A couple of people were even downright nasty; one man that I'd dated very briefly in high school made a blatantly homophobic comment when I said something on my page in support of my gay cousin's rights (or lack thereof, I should say). For me, Facebook was largely a lesson in how life moves on and why.

Too, when I found msyelf taking photos with the thought of the subject matter being something cool to post on Facebook, I knew it was past time to call it quits.

When my 70 year old sister joined I was curious and signed up, but never created a page. Not interested in Twitter or blogging either. I don't even share a lot of personal info here. Would like to hold on to what privacy I still have left.

I also love fb. Love seeing all the funny pics, the updates, etc. I don't post a whole lot, and I don't play any games, but I sure do love facebook!

""Pee-uke! Spare me the joy.""

Stinky, I have a friend and she does the same thing. It's gotten to where I skim over her posts!

Sherrmann, I'm like you. Mostly because I only friend those I know and trust. We have some of the funniest convrsations, and I love seeing their pictures and vice versa.

Even nicer is I've become a lot closer to those I knew very well in the past. I have to check my FB several times a day.

I also shunned FB for a couple of years, I thought it was just for young people. Boy, was I wrong. And now stats say that it's us oldies who've taken over FB. lol

I've only had to unfriend one person though.

Funny how I have only figured out three of you who friended me. Pesky, Cooperbailey and Oakley. Still trying to connect the dots. It might be easier if I read the other side of this forum but I don't.

I signed onto fb when my DH was sick, thinking I'd use it to keep people updated on his situation. Before I could get interested enough to set up a page, I starting sending a group email to 70+ people with our updates. That worked out better for me, and most of the group, so that's what I continued and never got into fb.

I check it about once a month now and never find out anything I didn't already know from an email or a phone call. I did have to hide posts from 2 people (out of my total friend count of maybe 9 since I stopped accepting friend requests) because they share every thought, every action, every boring detail of their day. Not only am I not interested that you went out for a run, I'm less interested that you're back. I'm not your coach, I'm not timing you.

One of them posts constantly while at work and I wonder if that will come back to haunt her. All her boss would need to do is check the time on all her frequent, frequent posts to see she isn't doing company business.

My DH said it has been a bit of a problem at his work because people are 'just checking' their page, multiple quick times through out the day, but all those quick checks add up and that is time they are being paid to work not play farm games or see photos of their friends at parties.

Hmmm Goldie. I'm on your friend list now and you commented (can't remember what). LOL I go by tina.