Last year I wrote this big post about how I was not on Facebook. About how I didn’t like the privacy rules. About how I wanted to be accessible to anyone and everyone. And I still do want that – to be accessible.
However, on Tuesday I gave in and joined. Why did I do that? Well, it turns out that everyone else has. Or almost everyone. And my desire to be open to everyone was beginning to mean I wasn’t. My friends, my family, and my vague acquaintances are on Facebook. If I want to connect with them I have to be there, too.
I’m slowly learning the ropes. I have some friends. I’ve joined some groups. I’ve posted some photos (although there are still way more on this blog. I’m figuring it out, feeling my way in the new environment. It’s still a little awkward, but in a good way, I think.
I do have a lot of anxiety about the whole social networking thing. Asking people to be my friend freaks me out. But I’m getting better at it. I’m getting better at extending myself in the blogosphere as well – commenting on posts I like, letting people know I’ve stopped by. I like connecting with other people, I like it when they visit my little corner of the world, and so I’m trying to hold up my end of that bargain. Each time it gets easier. Each connection reminds me of the importance of community and the value we find by sharing pieces of ourselves with others.
Social networking is quite the thing. Chatting with people you haven’t seen in years. Making ‘friends’ with people you’ve never met. It’s all very 21st century for someone whose heart remains in 1992. I paid my bills by mail until I got married, never fully trusting in newfangled banking technology. Ironic for an engineer who works in high tech, I know, but it’s true. It’s why I held out so long on Facebook. I am not an early adopter. I need other people to blaze the trail and drag me along kicking and screaming.
I’m not going anywhere. This website will always be my first love. Over five years of my life are chronicled here. I love looking back and reading what I wrote when we were renovating our house, when I was pregnant, when Hannah was learning to walk. I like browsing the photo gallery and seeing my wedding photos or snapshots from our trip to the maritimes. The story of our family is contained here on Strocel.com, and that is where it will stay.
So yes, I’ve eaten my words. It’s not the first time, and it certainly won’t be the last. Now if you happen to be on Facebook, why don’t you add me as a friend? You’ll make my day, and save me a world of anxiety. 
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