Facebook contact with students

I explained that although friends abroad had been badgering me to give FB a try, I had not yet taken the plunge. I cited reasons such as my work load, my ambivalent feelings about high technology, my limited amount of leisure time, and so on. It is amazing how formidable the urgings of favorite former students can be. In minutes, I let myself get talked into this new adventure.

Kristin and Amy downloaded the requisite registration data for FB on a borrowed computer, and helped me to connect the dots and fill in the blanks. In two shakes, as Raymond Carver might say, I was an avid face-booker. That, by the way, is not an acknowledged word (yet).

The word “seductive” is not too strong to describe the initial attraction FB exerted over me. In fact, Typhoon Morakot was raging in the days I took my baby steps with the system. Trapped indoors by inclement weather, and not having received the sad news that was to come later from the south, I was riveted to my computer screen, enjoying photos in FB “albums” from far away friends who were already confirmed face-bookers, sending out “friend requests,” and fiddling with pictures to learn how to slap my mug in the photo spot on my “profile” page.

As the quote marks above show, face-bookers must master a few elementary terms in order to operate the system. FB also has “walls” and “notifications,” and a box marked “home.” Kristin said, as Amy giggled, “If you get lost, you can always go home.”

Three days after my face-booking career kicked off, with eyes bloodshot and begging for rest, I saw I would have to put a brake on myself if I was to return to the life of a normal person. I resolved to keep FB sessions to a 20 minute limit, to only use FB when I wasn't supposed to work and, well, you know how people make promises when they are, shall we say, slightly upset with themselves. Actually, my batting average for fidelity to my FB rules is not too bad. It may not be as high as Joe Mauer's batting average, but it's still pretty respectable.

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