1. I now live some 4,000 miles from many close
friends and we can keep in easy contact this way. Even with friends closer to home this is
helpful (the girl next door and I often chat with each other rather than having
to go to all that faff of standing up, going outside, going to her house, going
in etc!)
2. Through FB I have found and 'met' some
interesting people, had a laugh and learnt a lot. In fact I would go so far as to thoroughly
recommend it both generally speaking and as a way to get yourself 'out there'
so to speak. I am in touch with a number
of food bloggers and enjoy swapping ideas and stories with them.
I also like the way a
missing person's photo can be shared to help find them, petitions signed to
stop cruelty and the way warnings about scams, health problems, travel hitches,
etc. are posted. I'm all for things that amuse me, info about my old homes (Tortola
and Trebarwith), competitions, lovely photos, interesting events, special
offers, Rummikub (within reason ie. not paying for it), long rambling conversations with my friend Debs and keeping an eye on my
family's doings! I like knowing when a man I have never met but is a friend of a friend is doing a happy dance, he especially does these on Friday.
Having said that ...
There are several
things that really irritate me, not about the application itself but about some
of the stuff that floats about being shared etc. They are, in no particular order ...
~ The way cats, and to a lesser extent dogs, 'talk'
with such strange accents or speech impediments. I have lived with and been very friendly with many
chaps of both species and never have I found any that talked in that ridiculous
fashion.
~ The recent plethora of things saying
"Bet you can't think of a film without the letter A in it" (ET?) or
"..... a word that starts and ends with N" (nun, noon , nation, noun, neuron and I don't think I've
even got started). What is the point of
these?
~ Even worse, the things that show a photo and
say "Press Like and you will be amazed at what happens", and nothing
ever does". I know what the point
of these is but surely people must have caught on by now.
~ Those things about serious illnesses that
you are supposed to share and which say something like "I know one person
who will but 78% (or some such number - very scientific) won't. What is the point of them? I am not heartless but these surely don't to
anything for anyone. If I am wrong and
they do somehow help please let me know and I'll go for it.
~ I can't think of the word for it but all
those sayings that tell you how to think and live. I'm a great one, me, for the old positive
thinking, spiritual beliefs and all that and also am very keen on equality,
respect for all life etc. and so on but I don't need to be reminded every few
minutes (yes - I know that's quite a high frequency rate for checking into
FB!) Just thought - I think maybe
proselytising is the word.
Perhaps I am being
more irritable than usual due to still being heavily under the weather,
hopefully when I don't have so much time for FB, soon, I'll be a lot calmer about it. Sorry!
The Leftovers
Handbook
The good news is that
my book is still on schedule to be published on 29th March - just
two weeks and one day. I hope I'll have
my strength back enough to jump up and down in excitement.
All the best,
Suzy Bowler
