Facebook: Family and Friends

I have 563 friends on Facebook according to my last count. There are people from all over the world on the list. A very international Facebook account indeed. One day when I had a little bit of time on my hands I counted that I had more than 30 nationalities. Naturally the most people were from New Zealand and Japan.

For me the best thing about Facebook is that I can keep in touch with family members and people I went to school with.

I'm the eldest grandchild on both my mother's and father's side. After my brother and I, the next oldest cousin is 36 while the youngest is 12. A real generation gap there. However when I look at their Facebook photo I can see how they are going. I can contact them periodically if I want. That's a nice thing. Also I see via Facebook what cousins are having children and I can keep up to date on all that news.

Another good thing about Facebook is that I can sort of be introduced to my cousins' partners. I become friends with them and I can learn about them and they can learn about me through my posts. Some of the partners I haven't met and I can build a relationship through Facebook.

Another good thing about Facebook is that you can keep in touch with your old school friends. I went to an all boys high school and I have friends and acquaintances all over the place. Through Facebook I can see what guys in my class at school, guys in my sports teams at school are doing now. The thing that surprised me the most was that there are a lot of guys not living on New Zealand but all over the world. From memory, there are guys in the UK, Sweden, South Korea, the USA, Japan, Thailand, Canada, Australia, the Netherlands, Singapore and Argentina.

Facebook is really good for sharing your thoughts, opinions and photos but sometimes I do get homesick. Late last year my family got together at my aunt's place to celebrate Christmas. The next day someone had put a photo on Facebook and had tagged me. For me Christmas is one off the best times of the year. Our family party is always fun playing games and getting our photo taken wearing our Santa hats.

Even though we get homesick, through Facebook we can keep friendships going and arrange to meet old friends. It is for this reason that I will continue to use Facebook for the coming future.