Saturday, May 30, 2009

106

I have 106 friends on Facebook.

This is a strange world in which we live. This friend count is more or less accurate. Some of these people I haven't seen in years, perhaps decades, but I do know all of these people.

I guess where I run into problems is that word "Friend." I think that friends are something that are all too often taken for granted. I have a Facebook friend in San Francisco, a Facebook friend in Mexico, and other Facebook friends all over. I really don't think you can cultivate deep friendships with people across these massive expansive distances, even when connected electronically.

I have very few friends I hang out with on a regular basis, and that's kind of the way I prefer it. But at the same time, I lament the distance between many of the other friends who I only ever see on Facebook. I'd love to be in Istanbul with my friend Shay (totally heart you, girl) but I am willing to settle for browsing through her holiday snaps on her Facebook page.

Instead of the classic telephone call, I suppose Facebook really is the new way to Reach Out and Touch Someone.

2 comments:

The Chronicler said...

Awww, I heart you too, Tom. *kiss*

And btw, this is the most high-security blog I've ever seen. Are you hiding from a stalker or what?

Tom Boyer said...

More or less. I don't want my family to read it because I may get a bit off color and leftist at times.