Facebook forward
After months of persuasion by friends and family, I caved in and allowed my cousin to create a Facebook account for me. In light of the coming holidays, it seemed like a good way to stay in touch.
There were many reasons why I didn’t want to do it.
First, I feared that I might become obsessed with it, as is my nature. Second, it seemed like an invasion of personal privacy.
Being able to be part of someone else’s space on a constant basis did not appeal to me. A phone can be turned off; a computer still receives messages.
But I came to the realisation that being on Facebook was the same as e-mail and so my third reason, that life was simply full enough, didn’t quite apply (the exams were over). So I caved in.
I have had it almost a week and although I am not a “Facebook-whore”, as it is bluntly termed (specific qualifications are needed for that), it has been rather nice every now and then.
I was contacted immediately by my best friend from grades 1 and 2 who had put a picture up from then, which proved that not being on Facebook doesn’t keep you safe from its clutches.
Facebook enabled me to show my cousins pictures of my baby sister via my stepmom’s profile.
Pictures I would never have known existed if I hadn’t been online.
Facebook is a phenomenon we have spoken about in life orientation and English classes. It can be dangerous. By accepting just anyone as your friend, or uploading pictures that could attract unwanted attention, you make yourself vulnerable.
But if you are careful, it can be just another way to enhance the global connection web. I always picture, as I drive through the Mother City, a golden web connecting all the people I know.
Spun from point to point, it is a web of love and protection that I become aware of every time I drive past a relative’s office building or a friend’s home.
Facebook can be many things, but I have realised that it is also merely something that spins a few new threads into that web.
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