My evolution through Facebook

The early years

After months, maybe even years of hearing about it, I signed up for Facebook in August 2008. I had been pretty dedicated to MySpace up until that time. In fact, it was the blogging feature on Myspace that hooked me to the early social media site. But as all the cool kids were making the transition, I knew it was time. Back then, I had no plans on spreading my blogging wings and aspiring to do more work in the field of social media and digital marketing.

But it didn’t take long to quickly become addicted to social media. After reconnecting with some old friends from high school and college, I was sold. It was great to see friends and how they’d changed. It seemed like many of us from the class of ‘91 had signed up for Facebook at the same time. A small group of us even had a reunion of sorts in 2009 after not seeing each other since graduation.

Not your mama’s Facebook… or maybe it is

Slowly more and more people from my age range started joining. The Notes feature became my new vehicle to blog from until I figured out how to start an actual blog site. The evolution continued as older folks became attracted to social media. My parents and their friends started signing up for accounts. It’s been really neat being able to see my mom and dad reconnect with their friends from decades ago too. And because most of them are still in the same area, there have been more reunions and get-togethers than I would have ever imagined.

The art of networking

Facebook (and social media) has done an amazing job of connecting the world. I’m “friends” with people I didn’t know all that well back in the day and have a better understanding of now because of Facebook. And because of my job and my attempts to brand myself a blogger, I’ve accepted a lot of friend requests from people I don’t know. The experiences so far have been fine and I’d dare say beneficial.

Kids today will never feel disconnected again. Up until a few years ago, people would anticipate their high school reunion and reconnecting in person with former classmates. Since the popularity of Facebook, those connections have been made digitally. Granted, we’re not seeing each other face to face, but I do feel like I know more about those friends and can connect without the anxiety of an in-person meeting.

I miss the early days of my time on Facebook. And as much as I despise how the social media site has divided many of us because of political, religious or other beliefs, it is the best platform for connecting for me. My blog posts get much more traction on Facebook than on Twitter, LinkedIn, Google+ and Instagram. How has Facebook changed your consumption of digital media through the years?