I finally saw the film, The Social Network, that I now understand was loosely based on how the phenomenon that we now know as Facebook came to be.   Facebook is the poster child of social networking the revolution of social interaction that has taken place on the Internet.

Much debate has been made and still continues about what it gives or takes away from real human interaction.  Wherever you stand on the issue, it has literally become a part of our social connectivity and will continue to develop even more so in the future.

The film has been nominated for several Golden Globe awards and is slated to probably be nominated for some Oscars. I think it is deserved.  It is  a very well crafted film and has some stellar acting performances along with an excellent script.

However, the film’s main impact to me was more personal.   I am a major Facebook user.  I also Tweet and use Linked-In.  I blog and participate in other forms of social networking. Has this made me less interactive with humans?  I assume there is some legitimate argument for this for some people as many can hide behind a computer screen and never see a soul and create a different persona for themselves.

However in my case, it has actually increased my ability to connect more intimately with existing friends and family more frequently.  It has also enable me to develop new friendships quicker.I find myself sharing things more intimately in my writing than I sometimes do in speech. Perhaps because I like to write.   For my friends who live near, Facebook has simply enhance our face to face time by giving us another communication portal to document our lives together,  almost real time.

For those that live farther away, I am able to really keep up with their lives in a way that I have never done before.  That is a revolution in itself.  I have family in Guam that I can check in daily with as well as friends in South Africa as if they were living next door.  How marvelous is that?

Facebook, in its attempt to keep relationships just to known parties, needs to extend its invites to allow more flexibility to those who may want to get to know people they do not know. It is almost like the old pen pal scenario. People can still deny accepting such requests.

Such a tool and flexibility can really do wonders to increase communication across the world. There is something ennobling and equalizing about that which breaks down borders.  Could be a peace solution.

See Social Network.  Be part of the revolution.

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