Should I close the book right now?

I have to admit something to you here.

I’ve felt some pressure about what to put on this new blog. See, all the weight loss posts and getting healthy posts are all fine and dandy (l’ve lost 2 pounds already, by the way…yay me!), but I know it is time to bring the snark. Only, in reading back through old posts from my previous writing life, some of my snark was pretty…well, rough. Some wasn’t that funny. Some was hysterical, but horribly embarrassing if I think about who might have read it in my personal life.

Finally, I decided that I can’t keep this blogging chapel pristine and pearly white. That’s not who I am. So, I will snark, my friends. I will snark with the best of them and should you read this and be shocked, having known me personally, then I guess don’t read it anymore! The shackles are off, friends!

The latest development in my life has to do with something I have put off for a very long time because I felt it had a sort of cheese factor to it, and I had heard one too many horror stories of strange encounters there. I was a judger and I admit that.

Yes, I joined Facebook.

And, it has been the most bizarre experience that I really haven’t shared with anyone yet. It has also sucked up hours and hours of my precious time.

It is amazing how things start off. You invite a few friends, a few old friends find you. Sometimes people you don’t necessarily WANT to find you, then find you. You panic, change your privacy settings so that not everyone can see who your friend list is, you worry the night away about who will invite you next.

Then, you go search on obscure names from your past, wanting only to see a profile picture of that girl who was your best friend all through elementary school who moved away or the boy you had a huge crush on in the 7th grade.

Sometimes you find them, and sometimes you don’t. Sometimes you get sent a friend request that really kind of touches you–oh, that person remembers me after all this time? Sometimes you send a friend request and get surprised when they accept, or sad when they don’t (haven’t had that yet, but I’ve not worked up the guts to send a few ones still).

All of these memories come bubbling up. Memories of high school cross country practices and the silly coach who drove you and your teammates crazy, college sayings and friends you knew there only a few years that somehow you lost touch with, reminders of the person you used to be, and reminders that you’re still a little bit of that person even today no matter how much you THINK you’ve changed.

I’m amazed by all the little requests people send out–a football wave, a virtual drink, a cup of coffee. silly quizzes, the charity movements, etc. I have yet to accept or do any of these because of the disclaimer that comes up that lets you know the site will collect all of your profile information, your friends links, etc, if you use that little applet. It is too big brother for me, and it creeps me out. Yes, I’m still a little leery of the Facebook, I admit it…and increasingly growing more leery.

On the radio yesterday, I heard a promo for a local news station. “What your employers will find out about you from your online profiles.” Uh, oh… Well, do I really care that I told people that I am digging Jason Mraz’s latest song right now? Or I teased a girlfriend of mine about her old crush on Adam Ant? Really? Is that going to make or break my job chances?

Then, last night, I shared with my anti-FB husband that I’d located a childhood friend of his (with whom we’ve kept in touch with over the years) and that his friend had a photo of his elementary school class on there, with my husband’s name labeled on it. I dangled a carrot and said he could only see it if he joined in. He quickly and confidently declined.

Then, I explained how fun it was to search on these obscure names from your past and find a profile picture of someone with their kids or see who they’re still friends with. I told him you don’t really have to friend all of these people, but it is still fun to get a glimpse at what they look like or things about them today.

Then, my lovable internet programmer hubby shared with me something that made my heart jump for a minute:

“You know that people can see when you’ve searched on their name, don’t you? “

“What? No they CAN’T!” (Panic begins to set in…)

“Uh, well they can in some of the other sites like that so I’m sure they can there.”

“…so, you mean if I searched on that freaky girl in my high school who dragged the largest duffel bag I’ve ever seen from class to class–the bag we suspected might be large enough to hold a dead body or at least carcasses of pets’ past. You mean she might could see that I’ve searched on her?”

“Yes, that’s what I mean,” he said smugly. “And, she’d know you have a profile out there too. You might even get a friend request or she could be looking at your picture and friends list right now…”

Suddenly, all of this networking and reminiscing is not looking near as fun to me. I hope I don’t regret opening this book, or should I say can of worms up.

Do you have a fun FB story to share? Leave it in the comments below! If I get a lot of good ones, I’ll compile them and put it in a post!