While I was on vacation a few weeks back, there were as many as four families sitting around the table at our rented place by the lake. Granted, we all knew each other from the net, so we’re not exactly a “normal” sample. But what I noticed every morning when I joined the fray (I was a relative late riser at 7:30AM compared to everyone else who had some interest in watching the sun rise), was that they all logged into Facebook to see the pulse of their friends and family. Facebook was second right after email (which is the world’s first priority for screentime). Families run on Facebook.
In the little New Hampshire town 10 minutes from the lake place we rented, I stopped into the drug store to pick up a prescription for Kat. The woman at the cash register (about 40) was talking to another coworker who was about to leave. She said, “Okay, I’ll Facebook you later, if we decide to go out.” Not, “I’ll call.” She’d “facebook” her later. The verb.
I’m not a very big fan of Facebook. I have an account. I am near the upper limit of friends (have been over it 4 or 5 times, but culled another 500 the other day because they think there should be a limit on my connections), but I also have a private account, where I friended only my family. In that account, I can see the pulse of things going on in their lives. I can see photos from their events, can see news of people’s health, all those things we used to send letters to convey. I get it, at least in that context.
For marketing? I’m still not there yet. Still feeling it out. Still trying to divine the formula.
But I totally get that families run on Facebook.
You?
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