Facebook as a means to KIT

My coworker really got into me the other day because she thinks I spend way too much time on Facebook.  Obviously she thinks its a bad thing and a waste of time and there are other things that I can do that would not be as “wasteful” or such.  Its debatable if I spend “too much” time.  I mean, over the course of the day, I’d say I’m on FB like 30 minutes a day?  I know it might seem like more because I put posts and such on, but those who go on Facebook know that most posts take like a few seconds.  Sometimes I send a text using my cell phone to update my status.  It does not take long at all, so I don’t know where this “too much” time comes in.

But, let’s just assume that she is right and that I do spend more time then I should.  I actually think its quite the contrary.  And in fact, it could actually save me time and makes me more efficient.  How you ask?  Let me explain by asking some questions and sharing some memories.

Obviously those of you who are my friends on Facebook know that I post things on my status quite often and I put a lot of pictures up.  Now, I do all of this, but I would say that for the vast majority of those, little or no comments are left by my friends regarding them.  Why is that significant?  Well, its not.  In fact, it goes against what I just said in the paragraph above.

But, do you know how many people I see at work, or run into, who make comments to me like, “Man, you eat out a lot, how do you stay so thin!”, “I went to Disney last week too”, “Congrats on your new nephew!”, “Nice job bowling”, “You’ve been to a lot of countries!” or numerous other things all pertaining to what I put on my Facebook.  So, in essence all my friends and family (those on Facebook anyway) know exactly what is going on with my life, what I like to eat, where I like to hang out, where I’ve travelled to, etc., etc. and I never once told one of them.  In essence, I’m posting for a few seconds here and there, and am allowing myself to keep in touch with all these people that without Facebook I would never consistently do so because, well, there are just too many people to keep in touch with on a regular basis!

Yes, these little posts aren’t as detailed or personal as say a well written email or a phone call.  But, it gets the job done, and it gets the job done to a mass group of friends and family.  People may not be leaving comments on my posts, but when I see them in person and comment verbally, I know that they read my posts and I know that they know what is going on in my life.

So, wasting my time?  I think not.  If keeping in touch with my friends and family was something that I did want to do, then I’m doing quite the opposite.  I’ve saving lots of time, and being quite efficient at that.