Facebook

When I was younger, the internet was my escape.  I could go there and no one knew me.  None of my classmates, no one in my family, and none of my neighbors knew me.  I wasn't doing anything really wrong.  Just general mischief, message boards, napster, AOL cerver, and trolling.  It was great, unless you remember the sounds of the old 56k modem, all-night CD download times, and the fact that it cut off every time the phone rang.  Almost everyone you encountered online was literate, intelligent, and capable of a good debate.  Back then, everybody was afraid I was being stalked by Captain Howdy and anyone with a computer was a secret sex fiend, out to ensnare a 16 year old girl who carried a paint can.  Thank you very much, Strangeland.

Now, everybody is on the internet, regardless of literacy levels.  It can be a great thing, but at the same time, EVERYBODY IS ON THE INTERNET!  My parents are on craigslist buying vehicles, my kids are on PBS kids playing games, and great grandmas are setting up facebook profiles.  It's gone from a place where I was separate from everyone and everything to a place where everyone can find me.

I can't post about beer and burritos on Facebook without someone telling my parents.  Someone alerts my family if I mention using a power tool.  I'm almost thirty!
This brings me to the fact that I can find you guys, too.  I have 330 friends on Facebook, which pales in comparison to some, but it's enough for me.  Most of them are people I know and value in real life, but a good deal of these people are just online train wrecks.  I keep them around for when I feel like my life isn't so good and need a reason to smile.  That's my inner troll coming out.  If you have a Facebook, you have at least one friend who constantly posts about how horrible their life is and how it's not their fault, but you can trace the events leading to their current condition.  Oh no, you just had your third baby and have no idea who the dad is?  It couldn't be related to the drunken, half-naked party pictures you posted 9 months ago, proclaiming the fact that you were on the prowl!  The person who posts photos of their drug use and then laments the fact that they got sacked from their job after a drug test always entertains me, as does the single girl who takes relationship advice from Taylor Swift.

This is me around the time I discovered the internet.