Where Facebook Can Be a Force for Good

People often ask me why I use Facebook.

Today something happened that exemplified why.

A former work colleague, many years younger than me, fell victim to cancer. This tragic loss of life, meaning that kids have lost their Mum and a husband has lost his wife, would have passed me by completely had we not been friends on Facebook. This is where Facebook can be a force for good, it means people can keep in touch, pay their respects and share in the sorrow, albeit to a minute extent of what the family are facing.

It enables family and friends to keep in touch with those who have moved away to far-flung corners of the world, or simply another town. Or it helps the lonely, the old, the retired and the infirm to keep in touch with people they haven't seen for ages. Those people who are still busy, involved, active, or in a similar situation to themselves. In the old days, people moved on, there was the odd meeting-up, the occasional letter, followed by the infrequent phone call. In short, in many cases, you would simply lose touch.

Don't think I like everything about FB. I don't. I don't like the increasing commercialisation, the fact that despite the fact I'm not a serious movie buff it frequently recommends films I would not watch in a month of Sundays.I don't like the fact they tinker with your timeline so things don't appear in order, or are missed off.

But...without it, would I have been aware of the untimely passing away of Sally? Unlikely. Would I and countless others have been able to pay our respects to our former colleague? No.

Thanks for reading....

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