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This morning I got on Facebook and found myself alone. How does that happen? Yes, it was rather early on a Saturday morning, probably somewhere in the neighborhood of 5:14a.m.ish (note to self: does that imply that you had nothing to do Friday night?) And it’s not like I have a lot of FB friends, relatively speaking. But it really did feel kind of eerie. Naturally, THAT got me wondering…what is the effect of being on FB as opposed to the effect that FB has in general, and are the two mutually exclusive?  I’m interested in the former as opposed to the latter. In other words, what actually happens to you while you’re on FB from a psychosocial perspective? Of course, this is coming from someone who clearly does not get on FB enough or perhaps I wouldn’t have posed the question (note to self: find out average amount of time FB folks log-on per day, per week…and am I among the average?!)  I have to wonder, who out there views FB in the way that I do?

Are there other people just like me who one day, wake up, log-on, only to find themselves “out there” on their own?

It’s the internet we’re talking about, the World-Wide Web for crying out loud! Has anyone other than me ever experienced this?

How can anyone be alone in the “world”?

So, I had to ask myself the difficult questions: Should I make more friends…or worse, should I have more friends? Do I need more friends? Is having more, merrier? I’ve got friends who have ten times as many friends as I have. Do they really know who their friends are? Does it matter? Do other people feel this way or have these thoughts?

What is the perception of me on FB? Is there a perception of me on FB? Is my infrequency frowned upon? What if nobody “likes” me? Likes are powerful. When I see a whole bunch of “likes”, it gets my attention. I need to know what I’m missing out on. So I read what’s posted, and then I have to decide whether to”like” it or not. With the simple click of “like”, I have the potential power to contribute to your outcome and quite possibly, your mood. I like being “liked”.  When you “like” me, it makes me feel good. I feel as though I’ve made a meaningful contribution to the “world” in some small way. It conveys that what I’ve said is of value or appreciated on some level. Yeah,” likes” can be pretty powerful, especially in large numbers!

When you’re sitting staring at the screen or perhaps multi-tasking while interacting with a FB “friend”, what’s going through your mind? Does FB command your complete attention? The inquisitive part of me has Google written all over it. And even the word Google has me curious. Why? Because it does not come up as a misspelled or unrecognized word as I’m typing it.  But google with a lower case “g” comes up as an unrecognized word. Even the unrecognized word suggests that something is going on that I know I haven’t necessarily thought about or considered before this moment. At least not to this extent.

Is “google” a word that has just recently become part of the English language or did the word google exist before Google existed?  More research is clearly needed. Just give me a minute, I’ll be right back…

 Ok, I’m back. Hey, where’d you go?! Just kidding. So, here’s what I discovered. I love playing detective! (No, that’s not what I discovered).  In any event, Google is a relatively new term that has become part of the English jargon. So, the word google with a lower case “g” evidently did not exist prior to the company (in case you didn’t already know that). According to dictionary.com, the origin of the word Google is from 1998 with the founding of a leading Internet branded search engine and originated from the mathematical term, “googol”.  The verb, “google”, means to search the internet for information or to use a search engine, such as Google, to search information.

Did I just digress or what?!

Ok, back to Facebook.

So, I wrote on my timeline- or was it my wall? I honestly don’t know. Anyway, I typed, “Hellooooo…Is anybody out there?” And I waited. And waited some more.  And I wondered how long I would wait. And then, YES! I found a “friend” or I should say a “friend” found me. And what better friend than family? And that’s when I heard the voice in my head (No, I don’t really hear voices) It was my deceased father’s voice (No, he didn’t speak to me from the grave). So, I guess to avoid any potential misunderstandings or thoughts of concern, I should say, I recalled hearing what my father used to say when I was growing up: “Always remember, when no one else is there, family will be”. You get the point – family’s got your back. And in this case (as is often the case), it proved true. My niece came through! What a relief. I really wasn’t alone. Next thing you know, my sister-in-law “awakened” and then another “friend” and another.  It was like “being there” as each friend woke up and greeted the world! In a surprisingly short period of time, I was 

 among a small community of online awakening inhabitants chattering away as the sun came up. It takes a village. Now the “world” was as it should be. I have to say, it was a pretty cool way to start my day!

Also, FYI, the average number of “friends” that the 1.2 billion Facebook users have is 120. Yay, I’m average! 🙂 

Thanks for taking time out to join me!

Please Don’t Forget – April is “Military Child Month” and GrowGratitude is raising funds for the National Military Family Association!

Please consider making a $5 donation (or any amount you would like to give). The process is fast and easy. Click on the link below to go directly to the National Military Family Association’s secure donation page.

 http://www.militaryfamily.org/get-involved/donate/giving-opp/

Be sure to write “GrowGratitude” in the Comments section so that donations can be tracked for this important cause.

NOTE: If you prefer to donate by phone, please call Caroline Rasmus at 703-931-6632, ext. 325. Be sure to tell Ms. Rasmus that you are donating on behalf of ”GrowGratitude” so that your donation will be included in the effort to reach our goal!

The National Military Family Association has been the leading 501(c)3 charity helping military families of all ranks and Service branches. Their network of more than 1 million military family members is among the largest in the U.S.

If you haven’t had the chance to check out the blog post regarding our nation’s military children, click  here:

https://growgratitude.com/2013/03/27/lets-growgratitude-for-military-child-month/

   As always, truly grateful for your support!          OXOXOXO

See you next Wednesday!                          

References/Resources:

Statisticbrain.com: number of Facebook users as of 2010

Facebook.com: average number of “friends”/Facebook user

Dictionary.com: origin of word “google”