Facebook

Last Sunday I blogged about wellness problems that Liz and I are enduring right now.  I informed a few friends about the blog post and two of them acknowledged it in emails.

Until today, I have never posted statuses in Facebook.  Every now and then, when i sign a petition, I have it posted to Facebook.  I have also used Facebook to send messages, for instance when the coroner called me to tell me that my brother Philip was found dead in his apartment, I used Facebook to get in touch with my nephew.  But I have never before used Facebook to report on my status.

I have 111 Facebook friends.  They fall into three (or four) categories.  One group is my relatives,  including my dead Uncle Chuck.  Another is people I got to know when I began blogging in earnest a few (maybe six or seven) years ago.  They range from June Butler (Grandmère Mimi,) a laywoman a year older than I to Toby Haller, a priest in the Diocese of New York; they are all Anglicans and all are gay or gay-friendly .  A third group is people I know either from Morningside Gardens or other contexts.  The fourth group is people I know from my 55 years at St. Mary's Manhattanville. (Forgive me, I'm speaking [that is, writing] impressionistically here, because obviously with only 111 people, I could figure out my connection to each of them.  But that is not the point of this post.)  

Facebook sends me emails that say that 5 friends have posted updates.  I used to click on them all the time.  My cousin Leslie posts Bible verses; Ken Arnold, an erstwhile deacon at St. Mary's, posts updates on his serious health issues; and several people post links to their blogs.

Today, I posted an update on Facebook on Liz's and my health issues.  As of now, I have received comments from two cousins, a St. Mary's friend, a Morningside Gardens friend, and my brother-in-law.  There's something to be said for Facebook.