has it really been 5 years?!

A few years ago, or on this very day (March 3, 2005), I was introduced to something that would change my life from then to today. What was it? Facebook. I'd like to say this was the first time I've really been involved in online social networking. I can't remember how long its been since I was on classmates.com, even though I was hardly involved at all on there.

Facebook started in February 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg and a few others at Harvard. The craze rapidly spread, thanks to word of mouth. Most so-called major universities were plugged into Facebook, and on March 1 of 2005, SIUE (Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville) became one of the latest schools put on Facebook. I had never heard of it until two days later. I guess I was hiding under a rock, I don't know (lol). I remember being in a computer lab that day, bored outta my mind and this one girl in my drawing class sits next to me and shows me this cool website. At first, I thought she was trying to tell me she was on a dating site. I saw her photo and she put her personal information on the page. Yeah, definitely trying to hook up with someone, right? But she explained she already had a boyfriend, and she wasn't trying to look for any guys. She just wanted to meet more people, and catch up to people. She gave me a quick tour of Facebook, and minutes later, I used my SIUE webmail account and got a profile on there. I still do have one on there.

As mentioned earlier, this opened up a new world for me. I was convinced that this was a true stalkers' paradise. Now instead of asking a girl if she was single, I could easily look at her profile. I could also see who she knows that I know. Simple, right? Too good to be true. Nope. The writing was now on the wall. Like many others, I became addicted to Facebook and I started 'friending' people in my classes. I enjoyed getting to know them better, as time went on. Times have really changed since 5 years ago. I remember when I first friended some of my classmates, they were looking for 'random play' and 'relationships'. Now most of these people are married. I still haven't found a success story about a couple I know that has married from being met on Facebook.

A 'friend' was redefined. It could now be someone you never met in person. I currently have 295 Facebook friends. About a dozen of those people I have never talked to in person. But I still think they're aight (lol). I'm pretty comfortable with 295, although I would like to meet more people. I would be lying to you if I told you I knew over, say, 700 people. I know a lot of people who have super-full friends lists. And I have no clue how or why. I don't 'friend' any of my co-workers anymore, unless they strike first. Both of my 'bosses' are on here, but I choose not to be friends with them just because.

I like to keep my profile short and sweet, and I don't put hardly any personal information, unless someone wants to know. We all do stupid things, but I don't advertise them here on social networking sites. After all, no one really needs to know what I do anyway. I'm shocked that people put beer parties on there as well as lingerie fashion shows of themselves (hey, not that I'm complaining (hee hee)...), but still, if they were looking for a better career or become an elected official....yeah, that would hurt. I do have a picture of myself getting arrested by the police, but I noted that the picture was staged, as I was doing an acting job. (I used video editing software to create a photo still)

I was hooked on myspace for a while, as I joined that site a few months later. Remember, Facebook wasn't open to EVERYONE at one time. It was good timing for the socialnet site and it deservedly became the #1 online social networking site today. I'm a bit disappointed that I saw Myspace fall before my eyes, but I could be saying the same thing about Facebook someday.