"It's A Disease!!"

"I'm hooked!!" Someone invited me, a couple of weeks back, to be their "friend" on the on-line social networking service, Facebook. Very soon thereafter the receipt of that seemingly innocent invitation, I lost all self-control. I'm telling you that the Swine Flu can't possibly spread as quickly as has this Facebook pandemic. A fellow Facebook devotee unflatteringly referred to this WEB phenomena as "Crackbook," because of it's powerfully addictive nature. I agree. I'm mainlining with the best of them.

I now have people coming out of the woodwork that I haven't heard from or seen hide-nor-hair of in decades! "Let's Be Friends" is their introduction. So, with a quick click of the acceptance button, I get to add another scalp to my belt. I think I'm up to well over a hundred friends, and everyone of them (yours truly included) seems bent on making some comment that may or may not make an ounce of sense. Regardless of content, each and all gets published. Some of the stuff appears to me to be in some form of code or in a language that I'm not at all familiar. This predilection seems to be the purview of the younger set, where some short of shorthand is utilized and proper punctuation is of no consequence. If you stay with it long enough, you can watch a whole string of these particular Facebook adherents conduct cryptic conversations with each other, just like I'm talking with you...so to speak. There could be a conspiracy afoot and I wouldn't have a clue!

It is my understanding that Fccebook initially started out as primarily a way for folks to merely exchange brief messages. Kind of like what email and later Instant Messenger is designed to do. Now Facebook has evolved (if that is the right word) into an entirely different and more dynamic method of social interaction, not all of which I am sure has been a plus. As an example, a user can now solicit their other friends to try and collect a bunch of different types and colors of Easter Eggs. It is a quest that rivals, for many, the pursuit of the Holy Grail. I suppose that there's an end game to this, but, as usual, I haven't figured out what. Whatever floats your pontoon, I suppose.

Other's prefer to document their every waking moment (some from birth) with photographs of their worldly possessions, acquaintances, pets, and exploits. I have viewed photos of more dogs, cats, parrots, monkeys and other personal pets than would possibly be treated in a year at a veterinarian's office. I've been an unwitting witness to social gatherings of all types...birthday parties, weddings, births, vacations, sporting events, etc. You name it and there are tons of personal photographs to document every type of social event engaged in by mankind, all shared with unassuming and embarrassment-free enthusiasm.

Then there are the challenges to consider...invitations to become a group fan of certain people, places and things, such as any number of celebrities de jour, the mountains, the beach, the spotted owl, jelly doughnuts, an over-stuffed couch, etc. I purposefully shy away from such group-share invitations. To paraphrase Groucho Marx, "I'm not sure that I would wish to be a part of any organization that would have me as a member."

I did fall prey to one invitation that seems to be a popular past-time on Facebook; inquires that are designed to derive personal information about the respondent. One in particular is entitled, "The ABCS of Me." There are twenty-six questions each beginning with the corresponding letter of the alphabet. "A" equals "Age. Answer: 61. "B" equals Bed Size. "C" equals Chore You Hate. This line of questions continues all the way through to the letter "Z," which asks Zoo Favorites. I answered, "Liberals and Democrats - they play well in the same cage." Since I do not take myself too seriously (and many would say, "Not much of anything else, for that matter."), my selected answers reflect very little about my true character except to affirm confirmation of my self-depreciating nature, which is just fine with me.

I don't know how long Facebook will maintain its gravitational pull on its thousands of adherents before its popularity wanes or it is ultimately replaced with some other more alluring means and methods for soliciting mass self-expression. My guess is that it will be when the theorem is fully proved that there really is only three degrees of separation between each and every human being. That's when we will all finally become "friends" with one another on Facebook.

As for the letter "U" in the ABC's Of Me questionnaire, that corresponds with the question "Underwear?" I responded, "Occasionally." Thought you'd like to know.