I unintentionally joined a Star Trek fan page on Facebook, but it wasn’t my fault.
I’ve been on Facebook for five years now. I’m only there because it was advised by my web people, but it’s not been so bad. It’s actually rather nice to keep up with friends and family, and to find out what happened locally on any given day that caused a nearby traffic jam. I’ve gotten into the habit of popping on and off Facebook a few times a day, just to monitor the tiny bit of traffic my pages get, and to scroll through the funny posts that have appeared since my last visit.
I do like being able to let folks know when I’ve got new articles and blogs up, and I can post links back directly to my web site. But I’m terrible about commenting and liking other posts, so over time the number of posts I see from folks I actually know has dwindled and dwindled down to just a trickle. I don’t care, because most of the posts I miss are from people I see and talk to in person on a regular basis. That’s fine with me … I’d much rather enjoy dinners and activities with family and friends in person than swap one-liners with them on a public platform.
It’s because I’m older and I prefer face-to-face encounters with people over social media. For me, phone calls and texts are for finding out what time I’m supposed to be there. When I get there, the phone is put away and I enjoy my company.
Still, I’m not so old that I don’t appreciate the technology and social media. I like YouTube much more than Facebook. YouTube is amazing ... I can watch movies and TV shows (free with ads!), or listen to Charles Spurgeon sermons from the 1800’s, or get art instruction, or find someone to show me how to switch my refrigerator door to open from the right instead of from the left. The practical, the entertaining, and the educational … all in one place!
But, back to Facebook …
I don’t really care that Facebook has slowly, one-by-one disconnected me from people I know. After all, I’m in the space they created, and I don’t exactly follow their rules. I totally disregard all their prompts for me to send them money and boost my posts. I happily ignore the parade of folks they march by me daily … the people “I might know” and might want to connect with. The truth is, for anyone I want to meet or keep up with, I can just go directly to their pages. If I really want to connect with them, I’ll just give them a call and go meet them for lunch! So Facebook and I have a rather strained relationship, but still they try. They follow me all around everywhere and WATCH. Because we all know that anywhere we go on the worldwide web, there are eyes and ears watching and listening …
After Facebook cut me off from people I know, they try to fill the void with content that hopefully will make me see the light and maybe I’ll start behaving. I haven’t so far, but they keep trying, and it’s fun to see what they’ll send my way. A lot of times they send some pretty interesting stuff that I might have otherwise missed out on, and I have to admit that I look forward to finding out what they’ve sent me each day.
Some days it’s not surprising at all …
I told you last week about re-watching old Star Trek movies one night. And the very next day, what’s in my Facebook feed … a Star Trek fan site.
Okay, this might be kind of silly ... I’m not that much of a Trekkie!
But I’m still in a Trekkie mood after my fun movie night, so let’s check it out … and oh, boy! I’m glad I did!
Like a shot out of the blue it came … fresh doses of inspiration from unexpected sources! And not all Trek talk …