I am kind of a Facebook junkie. I’m on it every day. I have it open at work, check it at home in the evening, and have had the app on my phone for a couple years. I have to say it has been a great way to reconnect with family and friends. Its also strengthened some of my relationships. I think its had a positive effect on my life. But I’ve noticed a trend recently that I’m not sure I’m ok with. It has to do with preserving family memories. I take a lot of pictures. Its my thing. I love capturing all of life’s important moments, I always have. I’ve been an avid scrapbooker since about 2000. But lately, I’ve found that I’m taking most of my pictures with my phone. And they are going straight on Facebook. Once I have shared them there, I am mentally finished with them. They don’t get filed in Picasa like my other photos.
I think this is good and bad. I love that I have already seen my nephew’s prom pics. If it weren’t for Facebook, I wouldn’t see them until this summer when we visit. I’ve also seen so many cute pics of my college roommate’s daughter. She’s two and I haven’t met her yet. And it’s so fun keeping up with my cousin and his family who are currently stationed in Okinawa. My parents have been able to keep up with what is going on in their grandkids lives even though some of them live hours away. It really is good t o share photos on Facebook. The drawback is when I forget to include those pictures with the rest. When I don’t get them filed and included for scrapbooking. And, its easy to forget that the other grandparents aren’t on Facebook and haven’t seen all that is happening in the grandson’s lives. We have to be deliberate in keeping them in the loop.
I did have the reminder recently that Facebook is not a permanent thing. There is no guarantee it will be around when the boys are out of college. Things can change very quickly and this is a privately owned website. They are not beholden to me to maintain it as is indefinitely. They could decide tomorrow to put a limit on the number of photos you are allowed to store and delete the rest. It could happen. I guess my next big job is to file all my Facebook pics in Picasa – and maybe even include the captions and comments. Now I just need an app that will do that for me! Gotta email Google I’m sure they can figure it out.
Considering the Options 