The HEA Cafe

Maybe I’m hopelessly out of touch, but I have to admit that I’m one of those people who doesn’t “get” Facebook and other similar communities.  Yes, I understand that they’re a way to network with people, form communities, post photos and other news.  And in theory, that sounds great.

But here’s the problem.  I joined Facebook recently because one of my former students was spending a semester in Spain, and I wanted to see her photos.  I’d heard other writers extol the virtues of Facebook (as well as My Space) as a way to increase visibility, so I thought I’d have the added bonus of getting my name out there a bit without much effort or expense.

So I joined.  Pretty soon, I started getting requests to add friends to my page, which I did.  Then someone sent me a “hug,” whatever that was.  Again, no big deal.  I went to my page every few days, resisted the invitations to post what I was doing at that moment, and pretty much left it alone.

Okay, I completely ignored it.  After a few attempts, I decided it took way too long to find my student’s photos.  Sure, it was fun to get messages, but I simply didn’t have time to post things on her wall.

Then today I got another request to add a friend, so I went back to my page.  And I was shocked.  I couldn’t believe all the messages I had.  The messages were requests to send the following items:

Shoes, hearts, growing flowers, pieces of flair, candy, gifts, hugs, fashion gifts, sweets, good karma, Swarovski crystals, stuffed animals, Baskin Robbins, cookies, butterflies, spies, my fairy, eggs, top friend, Haikoo zoo.  I had other messages wanting to know who my celebrity boyfriend was, what kind of warrior and Jane Austen heroine I was.  Was I addicted to Lost?  Would I become a knight in a game, a forever friend?

Stranger yet, most of these were from one person, who I promptly deleted from my list of friends.

And I couldn’t help but feel appalled.  Who was this person?  How did she have time to send all these things?  And what was she doing with her life?  Shouldn’t she be out there living, traveling, having relationships with people instead of sending nonsensical requests on the internet to someone she didn’t know?

So how much time do people spend on Facebook and other similar communities?  What is the appeal?  Surely I’m not the only one who doesn’t get this.  Enlighten me, please!