It is SO nice to have Facebook!

[Plain Old Petunia]

I went to bed early last night, so didn't hear about the earthquake in Japan until this morning. I have a cousin who lives in Japan with his family, and my first thought of course was for them.

It is SO nice to be able to hop on to Facebook to see if anyone has heard from him. Even nicer that he had already posted that they are OK.

We're so lucky to be able to get in touch with others instantly. Imagine if you lived 100 years ago. Probably the phone lines would be knocked out and you might have to wait days, even weeks to hear anything.

[cytoglycerine]

100 years ago, it probably also would have been days or weeks before you even heard about the earthquake (or not, I have no idea how news worked in that time)...So hopefully you wouldn't have been sitting around on pins and needles waiting for an important phone call...or telegraph or letter or whatever.


Either way, I'm glad to hear your cousin is okay, and that you didn't spend any time worrying about him needlessly!

[robbase]

Don't kid yourself.

Turns out Orson Welles may have been on to something with his book 1984, he was just off by a few years and it is happening in a slightly different way, but it is starting to happen none the less.

[illinicheme]

My sister and BIL are stationed at the Navy base outside Tokyo. I also learned they were ok via Facebook. It's a great tool.

[alabamagal]

I love Facebook! I don't know anyone in Japan, but I ove Facebook for everyday updates from family and friends. I have two brothers and we keep up with family stuff through facebook, seeing my nephew growing up. Better than seeing them just once a year!

[Plain Old Petunia]

Ill, I'm glad your sister and BIL are OK too.

Robbase, I have read George Orwell's 1984 and thought it was a good read, but I don't take it seriously. Have you not tried Facebook? It's a great way to keep up with friends and family.

Georgiagal, I wouldn't know what my nieces and nephews were up to if I didn't read about it on Facebook!

[robbase]

I tried facebook and I don't understand why I would want to see what my "friend" has commented to their own friend (who I do not know)....such things are a waste of time...overall it is such nonsense to me and impersonal

with twittering, geo tags, phone cameras, etc. we are closer to 1984 than you think

[❤ mollymouser ❤]

Mar 11, 2011 13:02:27 GMT -5 @robbase said:

Don't kid yourself.

Turns out Orson Welles may have been on to something with his book 1984, he was just off by a few years and it is happening in a slightly different way, but it is starting to happen none the less.

Ummm... George Orwell wrote the novel "1984" (among others.)

[debtheaven]

Facebook can be a wonderful thing, but it's not for every situation. My DS1 is a humanitarian aid worker VERY far away and FB is the quickest way to find out that he's safe, still in his office, or back from a trip. DS2 is in grad school and doing a semester abroad, ditto.

Also, it's a great way to keep up with my friends and family in the US. But for people who are local? As Robbase says, a total waste of time. I don't need to log onto FB to keep up with the people that are in my life on a daily basis, I hate that. When friends here ask me if I'm on FB, I lie and say no. I pride myself on my honesty but in that situation, it's just easier to say no than to explain that I have no desire to be FB friends with you because frankly I don't care about what you do every day.

I teach English to college students. They generally like me a lot and within a couple of classes they inevitably ask me the same thing. I don't ever lie to my students, I tell them the truth: I don't like FB, I consider it a necessary evil, but I only use FB to keep up with my friends and family abroad, I categorically refuse to be FB friends with anybody in France (except my youngest son and my DH :-)). I tell them if they go abroad (for an internship or a semester) if still want to be FB friends, no problem! :-)

ETA: Robbase I don't know if you have kids or not. But I'm guessing that if you do they are probably pretty young and not on FB LOL.

[debtheaven]

Karma to Molly. Everybody knows that Orson Welles wrote Rosebud, not 1984.

[Cookies Galore]

Mar 11, 2011 20:05:48 GMT -5 ❤ mollymouser ❤ said:

Mar 11, 2011 13:02:27 GMT -5 @robbase said:

Don't kid yourself.

Turns out Orson Welles may have been on to something with his book 1984, he was just off by a few years and it is happening in a slightly different way, but it is starting to happen none the less.

Ummm... George Orwell wrote the novel "1984" (among others.)

But Rosebud makes an appearance in the novel, right?

[debtheaven]

Yes, the Citizen Kane novel.

ETA: I don't think Rosebud was mentioned in 1984. I haven't read it in a while but I would be willing to bet money on that.

[Deleted]

My cousin is in Japan with her husband, who is stationed there, and their kids... it has been nice to get updates throughout... luckily they are not near any of the worst so far... they felt it at about a 5.6 and were not in wave reach...

[ZaireinHD]

I don't have an account