We had a facebook back in 1976. It was about 50 pages long
and full of beguiling photos.
I had just started college and every student was issued a
Freshman Directory so we could get to know each other.
Of course this quickly devolved into us guys sitting around
late at night, flipping the pages, looking for the cutest girls in our class.
“Does she really look that hot?”
“I don’t think so. John Kermath says she’s in his Lit 151
seminar and she’s marginal, at best.”
“Wow! Look at so-and-so. Is she really a student here?”
“I think I saw her at Harry’s Luncheonette with a bunch of
guys. No way you’re getting near her.”
And so it went.
Whenever we got bored, out came the Freshman Directory and
we perused more faces, hoping to recognize someone new, hoping to make a
connection.
Years later, Zuckerberg came along and digitized the whole
thing. And you know the rest of the story.
Today, Facebook claims to bring 1.23 billion people together. Not a second goes by when one of my 561 friends isn’t posting or commenting.
 |
| Freshman faces at my alma mater |
I guess my life is enriched by the experience, then. Without
Facebook, I probably wouldn’t realize how smart/funny/engaging/extraordinary
these people are.
Today, friends are posting movies of their Facebook lives.
It’s really pretty cool. A nice birthday present to all of us who took a deep
breath and took the plunge into this community.
We’ve come a long way from the Freshman Directory of 1976.
Wonder what became of that girl at Harry’s Luncheonette?
2 comments:
I live in two worlds and thrive in both... the 'real' world and the real world via the Interweb. Knowing the two exist, in parallel, and how my relationships in one are enhanced by the existence of the other is probably about as close to existential as I will get. I am 'me' in the 'real' world, but I am 'more' in the other.
That's a great way to look at it, Veronica. I'm still trying to figure out how to reconcile the two! Thanks for reading.
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