What Facebook Taught Me

I bought my Mom a Kindle Fire for Mother’s Day. My Mom is 87 years old, and was using my old laptop to play bridge. The laptop died and she was lost without her bridge games so this seemed the best course of action.

At first she was unsure and really not happy with her toy but as she began to play and experiment more, she has come to really love it. She plays bridge, scrabble, and does crosswords.

And then one day I registered her for a gmail account and got her on facebook. And her world opened. Friends and family that she no longer kept in touch with except for the annual Christmas card were suddenly talking to her, posting pictures of their grandkids and great grandkids, sending jokes. She is sharing recipes and even making new friends.

She is slow; she really has to think about her actions when she wants to do something lest she get stuck somewhere and cannot get back to her newsfeed. But that’s kind of the beauty of it, not only does she have the time to be slow but she also really reads things, actually looks at the pictures and appreciates what people are sharing with her. 

She will call me and discuss what someone posted or this person posts a lot of garbage or that person must have a lot of time on their hands. She goes through people’s entire timelines and then comments on it.

It’s made me realize what an amazing time we live in and what an amazing tool Facebook is. I have friends that have taken a Facebook break or gotten off it completely. For me the social interaction is priceless and more importantly, its doing amazing things for my Mom.