100 Blog Post Ideas: How I Use Facebook

I can admit with a slight twinge of embarrassment that I'm a regular user of facebook...well, perhaps user is not quite the right word for it. I have facebook as one of my favorites on my web browser and it is one of the first websites I visit when I turn on my computer, but for the life of me I don't know why.

Plenty of people use Facebook on a regular basis for a myriad of different reasons. They will post what's happening in their lives for their friends to see, upload new photos or videos of family and friends, allowing people in their social circle to see photos of their child or a fun party that they've attended. For some it's a way to keep in touch with friends and family that they don't get the opportunity to see everyday or have lost touch with.

I am not one of these people, I've tryed to be one of these people, letting people into the goings on of my daily life. I've uploaded pictures of my baby or a recent trip to Astoria but I just can't keep up with it or find the desire to do these things on a regular basis.

My experience with facebook is a timid one, we have a luke-warm relationship. It's there in front of me but I cannot find the enthusiasm that some people have for it. I post a new status update somewhere around three times a year, I continually ignore requests and invitations for groups or events, I stay far away from the compulsive games that litter the website (except for a brief addiction to bejeweled) and when I'm on I generally sit there, stare, and do nothing.

So why do I keep going on the website? Why would this website be one of the first websites I go to? If I'm not engaging with these friends I have on facebook then why would I even bother having an account?

Well in truth I think I'm somewhat of a social media voyeur. I want to know what goes on in friends lives. I want to know if a friend is doing good in their life or if they're having a bad day.

I've spent a good amount of time as a social hermit, even when asked to go out I would push away until people would just stop asking, but I still care about these people. Facebook allows people like me to still know that my friends are doing OK without having to engage them personally.

We all want to be part of society, no matter how much we pretend we don't. It's bred into us, it's part of our nature. Facebook has allowed people like me (slightly socially awkward) to keep that feeling of being part of society while remaining in the background.