Facebook for the Thirty Something Crowd

I remember a few years back that I had some friends that were on MySpace. I kind of laughed to myself as I thought that was really more for the younger set, and not so much for the late twenty or early thirty crowd. It seemed to gain popularity and I know a lot of people that really liked it, but then it got some bad press. For some reason, the media seemed to target My Space for all the problems that teenagers were having. I guess it's common everyone jumps on the bandwagon but it seemed unfortunate.

I then heard about Facebook, I know it's nothing new as I remember hearing about it awhile back. All of a sudden within the last couple of months, I started hearing several of my friends talk about it. And then more...I held fast to my belief that it was not for the thirty something crowd, but I was curious. What were they doing on the site? Was I missing out on something? I remember distinctly sitting at happy hour with some friends one night saying that I wasn't interested and didn't have time for that. Then the next morning it happened.....one of my friends finally just sent me the invitation. I was hooked!

As the whole social networking scene is nothing new, I'm not sure why Facebook has recently become so popular amongst the thirty something crowd. I can tell you that a good majority if my high school is on there, and I've found some old friends. It's funny because now at this point in our lives, most of us have pictures of and talk first and foremost about our children. Just about every profile picture that I come across of old friends or new features them with their children. We're just so proud and I think that Facebook gives us a venue to talk to others about where we're at in our life.

It's been fun to get back in contact with old friends, ones with which you simply lost touch through time. It's also an easy way to drop a quick note, to network, and to share pictures without having to email them out to the masses. I'll admit that some of the novelty and the huge number of applications available has worn on me a bit, but I really enjoy the ability to chat with somebody that I haven't seen for awhile. It's even allowed me to make plans with a couple of friends from high school that I haven't seen in about eight years.

So yes, Facebook can be a great tool for reconnecting with old friends. It can help you to network or share a quick note. In a day and age when the thirty something crowd is trying to balance family, career, commitments, and a social life, it's a nice tool and provides an escape from everyday life. Though I laughed at first, I must admit that this thirty something is rather enjoying her time on Facebook.