About Face

Lord, I don't know what on earth possessed me to join Facebook!

- Actually, I am perfectly aware of what my motivation was: Inexplicably, all the (non-"best deals for viagra") emails to my inbox virtually dried up overnight, and the ones which did still deign to arrive were all inevitably from Facebook, telling me that someone "had added me as a friend". And then there were the increasingly ubiquitous conversations about it. There was only so much a girl could take... So, I capitulated.

And it's not even been a week, and I haven't got a scrap of work done since. Urgent reports? Meetings? Paperwork? Pah! These have all fallen by the professional wayside, paling into insignificance - because there's "newsfeed" to check! - who knows whether people I either haven't seen since I was eight or met with for coffee yesterday have added me as a friend, eaten bread for breakfast, used the toilet in the last hour or joined a group called "Hands Up Who Thinks The Sky Is Blue?", "I'm Bored At Work", "Woof!" or similar. And I haven't even been reading the real news in all this time, now I come to think of it!

No, don't get me wrong, I'm having fun: It's great to re/connect with nice people and this is clearly the way forward. (Although I can't help but worry that one day in the not-so distant, we won't remember what people's faces actually look like beyond the carefully chosen Facebook album display. And further, the human race will have lost the ability to communicate via speech, instead we'll be walking around with keyboards and monitors surgically attached to our person. Well, I guess that could make dating more interesting.)

And who knew, alongside all the old/new friends (and the other people who add you just to bulk up their numbers) there are even some relevant groups out there among all the mad ones, I'm slowly discovering. Maybe I'll even start my own when I've become more au fait with the system. Hmm... How about "Jerusalemites for Social Change"? "Jerusalemites completely worn out and disheartened trying in to effect Social Change"? "Jerusalemites for Social Chocolate"?

Ok, well, nice as it has been to chat, I've got to run. Never mind the deadlines: I've got to check again if my 16 year old cousin has confirmed me as his friend yet.