Wednesday, October 24, 2012

My Favourite Blog Posts - How Facebook Changed My Life by Cassandra Golds

I like Facebook but am often called upon to defend why. This post is from one of my favourite Australian authors, Cassandra Golds (who wrote one of my all time favourite books - The Three Loves of Persimmon), and explains it much better than I ever could.

I often do speaking sessions about social media for writers and I always include a slide with quotes from Cassandra's post on it.

Here are some of my favourite excerpts:

People say that Facebook is superficial. The truth is that everybody approaches Facebook in a different way. Part of the fascination lies in the differences...

Some people post links to reviews or to articles on subjects they find interesting: I love this! Many people, including myself, share music videos from YouTube. How delightful it can be to be reminded of a long-forgotten song, or to discover that a Facebook friend has similar musical taste!
Some write progress reports on the novel they are writing ...

You have only to say something a little fragile on Facebook, or even to be absent for a while, to attract well-wishes, warm support, queries about your welfare and even personal offers of help. I have found it an immensely supportive community. And if you share an achievement — the publication of a book, for example, or a good review, you are showered with encouragement and affirmation.

There is also a lot of talk about cats and other furry animals...

In short, I haven't had so much fun in years. And I have never felt less alone.

I don't necessarily like everything about Facebook. I don't want play games or participate in survey-type quizzes. But sometimes I change my mind. One of the things I didn't initially like was the posting of birthday greetings. It just didn't seem to have the same sincerity as a card or a phone call. But then a funny thing happened - I had a birthday!!! The list of birthday messages made me smile - and I thoroughly enjoyed reading them. I realised that not only was it a good idea - it mattered to me after all.

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