Around a Fire, a Fruitless Pursuit of Another Facebook Friend

I celebrated my birthday over the weekend. This isn’t usually a cause for that much celebration on my part, yet since it fell on a Saturday, this 53rd edition was a bit more festive than previous years.

At a cocktail and dance party held at my home, I spent some time around a roaring fire, sitting on logs that were cut from a tree removed from the very center of the yard. There went all of the year’s tedious leaf raking, thank God.

At the fire, I tried to explain to an old friend how much Facebook has affected me, in a good way. He scoffed. “I don’t have time for that, and I am not missing anything,” he insisted. It was silly for me to try to convince him, yet because of his job in media I pursued my argument with additional vigor.

“But what about business, what about your promotions?? I know I can show you some fantastic ways people use this medium  even if you never put anything up about you!” It was a lost cause. I shouldn’t bother with such vigorous pursuits, since the true value of Facebook wasn’t revealed until the next day. Perhaps this would have been more compelling than my fireside rant.

When 44 people wished me happy birthday, people from all over the world, people I know vaguely, people I know through work, people who posted poignant quotes and shared warmth in that tiny space…this is when the community and embrace of Facebook enveloped me.