the silent observer.

I am shamefully confessing to you today that I reinstated my Facebook account. I had requested a delete, but Facebook doesn't actually do it until 14 days later. (I think they know most people will change their minds by then.) So when I signed in this morning, everything was there and back to normal.

I'm not a Facebook junkie. I don't add apps and I don't join (or "Like") dozens or hundreds of groups. I'm just the silent observer. I can see pictures from friends' engagements, babies' first days in the world, and yep, I appreciate Facebook reminding me when my friends' birthdays are because unless you've been my friend since elementary school, I might know the month of your birthday, but I can't keep track of the day.

One of my reasons for deleting (err … almost deleting) my account was because I don't use Facebook to communicate with people very often. I thought because of that I'd be fine without it. But you don't see me tossing my cell phone because it only rings a handful of times a week. And think about it: When you're hanging out with your friends, the majority of communication doesn't happen through words. You can learn a lot about people by just watching them. I am the silent observer.

OK, so I actually do feel a little guilty about returning to Facebook, but that's totally a pride thing. I said I was done with it. I like keeping my word. If I say I'm going to do something, I try hard to do it. But that's life.


I changed my mind.