Social Media

I have been a SAHM (stay-at-home-mom) for almost 7 years now, which can get really lonely when you don't have tons of extra money to go out to lunch or shopping everyday (or even every week/month). So, years ago, I joined MySpace to have a way to connect with the outside world, while staying on my couch. I started blogging, and became a member of a community like no other that I have encountered. I "met" people from as far away as Australia, and as close as right here in my state. My new friends were with me through everything; raising my two oldest girls, a heartbreaking miscarriage, my pregnancy and birth of my third daughter, all of life's ups and downs. I look back at my 500+ blogs sometimes to reminisce. One day I need to find a way to save them all... Like so many other people, I left MySpace for Facebook. Blogging was replaced with playing Scrabble (or some derivative) and status updates. And boy, did it also bring people from the past out of the woodwork! I was now connected to people I hadn't seen or heard from in close to 20 years. As someone who moved the summer between middle school and high school, I always had two groups of childhood friends, and Facebook has allowed me to be a part of both again. The people who were most important to me on MySpace also emigrated to Facebook, so our electronic friendships have been able to continue and grow. None of us blog anywhere near as much as we used to, but I don't feel like we are missing out on each other's lives because of it, now we have groups to share private things, walls to let each other know when we are thinking of them, and pictures! oh so many pictures! There are people whom I have never even spoken to on the phone that I consider my closest friends because of these sites. My Facebook family (some of which are ACTUAL family members) have been through another pregnancy and birth with me, along with the daily trials of having a large family in a (very) small house! When we do meet in person, it isn't like we are meeting for the first time, but more like we are just old friends continuing a conversation. And now, there is Google+. Wow, what a difference. While I don't see myself ever leaving Facebook "for" G+, it has been an amazing experience so far. On G+, I feel like I am seeing the world through other people's eyes. I am not sure if it is because of the people in my circles, or because of the platform, but it is inspiring. I am learning about myself through the pictures, links and posts of others more than I ever did on Facebook. Some of it may be because there is so much happening in the world right now. It may also be because my Facebook feed is a little more cluttered, so the influential things get lost. Whatever the reason, I am thankful for the light that G+ is shining on my life. And now that I have officially made myself feel like a geek who sits at her computer all day, I am going to get dressed and head out into the real world, where I can take pictures to post on my pages. (my apologies if this is all squished together in one big paragraphs, I have tried numerous ways to separate it, but it doesn't seem to be working)