Until We Meet Again

Family weddings can be daunting.  There are so many people there I do not know.  But this summer I came prepared.  I have been following them on Facebook.  A young woman approaches me and asks, "Do you remember me?" I not only know her but how we are related, and can ask her about her plans for next year without sounding clueless.  Another woman approaches me and I instantly recall her name, although I don't remember ever meeting her before.  I admit to only knowing her through FB, and she says she has been following my travels as well. I suddenly realize that my FB posts make it easier for them to speak with me.  They know where I come from and where I am going.

It is an exciting time of year to be following friends on FB.  Their posts are full of travel pictures and I am currently following friends on vacation in Japan, Thailand, Italy, France, Vietnam and across the US.  I eagerly read every comment and worry when they don't post one day. It is like I am traveling with them.
I much prefer these posts to watching another pet video; I'll go through +29 photos of your baby before I read another biased political article; I'll stop everything to answer a message, but may scroll quickly through those quotable quotes.  FB seems to agree with my preferences and has been working on getting users to make more personal posts.  That is why you get Birthday reminders, shared memories, and notifications telling you what to celebrate in your life. That is all very well and good, until you realize that you are bonding with an algorithm.

FB is a little like the ghosts at Hogwarts, they will give you all the information you need if you don't ignore them and take a little time to know how they work.  The mysterious ghosts of FB contacted me after I had been searching the web for a picture of the old campus of the school in Bulgaria where I had once taught.  I came up with nothing, but the next day I got a FB friend request from a stranger who introduced himself as the old director of this school.  And, lo and behold, he had posted on his timeline a picture of the campus and a message about how the buildings had been built.  Curious, I asked him how he had known I was looking for this picture? This led to a series of obscure messages with him avoiding the answer. I went to his page and it was like graffiti on a ruined building, full of badly written snippets and Birthday congrats.  This man either never existed or is long gone, leaving his page open for hackers and phishers. My son claims that FB itself writes programs that monitor your searches and bring you into contact with others with similar interests.

 They understand that human contact is what most people crave.  However the ultimate goal should be to meet up in person and spend time catching up face to face.
I am on my way to a small reunion, where I will get to spend time and reminisce with friends from the past, in an effort to keep in contact and not lose all the good memories we have together. Offline we can share what we really think, and mention those things that are much too personal or sensitive to post on line.
But for those of you who are across the seas, and cannot come to our reunion, Facebook will have to serve as a substitute way to keep in touch...

        ...until we meet again.