Time transcripts of ConnectingtoHome

[00:00:00:00]	I've been using Facebook since February, 2009.  Um, I don't remember why I joined. 

[00:00:11:06]	I think I had tried to join once before  and never got the confirmation email 

[00:00:16:13]	and I just forgot about it but I think, um,  more of my friends had started joining. 

[00:00:21:05]	And I remember it was during the week,  because that weekend I had dinner with a friend

[00:00:28:05]	and, um, told her that it was a bit like I felt like I was, um it was like you have one of those dreams where you're at a party 

[00:00:38:24]	and everybody from all different eras in your life is at this party  that, in real life, they would never be in the same room together 

[00:00:47:20]	but it was a little weird because it was, you know,  family and coworkers and friends from kindergarten

[00:00:53:02]	 and friends from high school  and former teachers and it's a very odd mix of people.

[00:01:00:13]	And I didn't use it a lot, or used it, probably, I mean,  I maybe on a daily basis or every other day for a couple of years 

[00:01:12:02]	and then when I moved from where I was living, um, to here,  to go to school, and was incredibly homesick

[00:01:20:04]	[ chuckles ] Um, I've been using it constantly,  um, to, to keep in touch with people. 

[00:01:26:08]	But it's interesting because I still find that the people I end up interacting with the most 

[00:01:31:12]	on Facebook are people that I see everyday, so my friends here,  and friends that, um, I had had a long email relationship, 

[00:01:40:28]	where that's we did most of the time, was email,  I was connecting with them on Facebook, 

[00:01:44:18]	So even though I have, I have 263 friends, I think,  um, I probably still only talk to a small cluster of those people. 

[00:01:52:29]	Um, and, um, I mean, it it's, you know,  I like being able to keep in touch with people 

[00:01:59:23]	but at the same too, I sort of miss email. 

[00:02:03:01]	It's sort of, I used to get letters from friends,  like I had my best friend when she moved when we were little. 

[00:02:08:13]	We wrote letters to each other and that sort of, you graduated to, um in college,  instant messaging, and sending email and still talking on the phone sometimes. 

[00:02:19:16]	And now it's like nobody sends emails anymore, and, um, or fewer people send emails.  So I sort of miss that kind of intimate um, communication. 

[00:02:29:12]	Nobody you know it's why send a birthday card  when you can just write quickly on somebody's wall "Happy Birthday." 

[00:02:35:20]	Um so, I sort of, you know, on, on my, you know, birthday  it's nice when I have 200 people who've said Happy Birthday 

[00:02:42:24]	but of those, you know,  only 20 are you know, really good friends, maybe. 

[00:02:46:04]	Um, so, so, um, you know, as much as I love Facebook and probably too addicted to it,  um, there are, are drawbacks. Um, 

[00:03:00:14]	and  [ Interviewer: Why do you think you're too addicted? ]

[00:03:05:03]	Why do I think I'm too addicted to it?

[00:03:10:05]	Because it's a good [ chuckles ] it's a good way to procrastinate  [Laughing] It's a fantastic way to procrastinate 

[00:03:14:27]	and, um, in the program now, you know, I live by myself and it's a lot of work,  so it's sort of, if I don't try to find other things to do, 

[00:03:25:05]	um, I'll sort of get stuck in, you know, my little cave. 

[00:03:29:09]	So Facebook is, it's the easy way to interact with other people  and to be in touch with people, and to feel like I'm still part of the world,

[00:03:39:00]	um, because otherwise you can just kind of get into that mindset  where you're thinking about school or whatever, you know, all the time. 

[00:03:46:17]	So, it's, um, you know, definitely, you know,  it, it forces me to sort of maintain connections 

[00:03:53:00]	and at the same point it reminds me of how much I'd much rather actually be able to sit  in the room with somebody or pick up the phone 

[00:04:00:00]	um, cause I really, I love spending time with people like one-on-one or in small groups. 

[00:04:05:15]	Um, but, um, you know and it's funny because I think a lot of the interpersonal drama  that, you know, that occurs, you know, like in high schools 

[00:04:15:00]	and in college, I see that repeating on Facebook too sometimes.  And, so I try to stay out of it. 

[00:04:21:26]	Um, you know, I've always tried to stay out of it,  even, you know, when it was in high school happening in front of me 

[00:04:27:11]	but on Facebook watching it happen too, it's sort of, I don't know,  it's, I think, like, sometimes people sometimes [ puff ] people never grow up 

[00:04:33:26]	and that, that can be a little disconcerting, when you have adults,  and also people who don't know each other in your life

[00:04:40:02]	and just have you in common, you know,  people get into arguments on your wall

[00:04:43:23]	cause you post something and then somebody responds  and then somebody else who disagrees and 

[00:04:48:01]	I, I've watched, you know, whole conversations that started off politely,  sort of turn into these massive arguments 

[00:04:55:07]	and I just find that fascinating that with people you don't know  that you'll, you know, that's that, there can be that tendency to get rilled up over things. 

[00:05:03:07]	Um, but um, ah, [ Sigh ]

[00:05:12:06]	I'm trying to think, I think that's pretty much.  You know, it's been a blessing and a curse at the same time. 

[00:05:18:05]	[ Laughing ] So