Do you Facebook?

An article in my local newspaper, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, struck my eye today, "Study suggests "hanging out" on Facebook, MySpace isn't a waste for teens", by Joe Crawford.
In it, he explains about "a study released today by the MacArthur Foundation. A team of researchers working on the foundation's "Digital Youth Project" concluded that interaction with new media such as Facebook is increasingly becoming an essential part of becoming a competent citizen in the digital age. I'm always happy when I find out that an activity that some people consider a waste of time is deemed important, or in this case, essential. I was introduced to Facebook last year by some guys at a fraternity reunion. I had heard of Facebook but equated it to MySpace as something for teenagers and not adults, particularly not someone in their mid 40's like me (gosh, it pains me to say that). These friends, who are a decade or more younger than me, explained that lots of people, groups, and organizations have a presence on Facebook, and it would be a great way for our fraternity brothers to communicate and keep up with each other. Once I set up my account, I noticed an interesting thing that happened. People started finding me and asked to be my friend! Now these were people that I already knew, but had lost touch with. Guys I went to college with, and even people I went to high school with! Through Facebook, I was reconnecting with people that I had not heard from, or spoken to, in over 25 years! And once you add a friend (and they accept you as their friend) you can see their friends and discover more people that you know. Now, I have "conversations" through the posting of comments with lots of people that I had long written off as people I would never see or hear from again. Now, I post pictures of myself and family, let people know my "status", that is, what I'm doing now, so that they can know and comment on themselves. I am now finding that communicating my e-mail and texting is really a thing of the past. Facebook and blogging are the way people are communicating today. I have even set up my Blackberry to be able to check Facebook and update my status. Now I just need some researchers to come to a conclusion that Fantasy Sports is beneficial and essential to society!