I took the dive about a month ago (along with many of the rest of the Baby Boomers) into Facebook -- the social networking site started by and for College Students a few years back and now hijacked by those kids' parents and grandparents and the corporate world.

In the four weeks over there, I've run into a lot of CF people - present, past and shoulda-beens.

Facebook is a phenomena. Over 200 MILLION members around the world.

In the first few weeks, I've even re-connected with 15 of my high school classmates from 1961. We're now talking about our 50th Reunion in 2011.

I'm not encouraging anyone to post their Facebook info here, but if you want to connect over there, email me and I'll send you a link to my Facebook account. webmaster@lighthousekeepers.com

Well, John, I jumped into the Facebook deal recently and am not sure what to think! I love the photos of family and friends but with so many diverse characters it has been a challenge sifting through the babble and getting to good stuff!

Judy

Well, I've had Facebook for over two years. It's interesting for me, because I got it in high school...brought it to college...then had all my lighthouse and ship friends join. So I have a very diverse cast of characters.

Anyone wants to friend me, send me an email.

My son signed me up for Facebook last week. I'm still undecided if I'm going to bother with it. It seems like a lot of junk talk...I guess I'm going to have to take more time to see if I like it or not.

You can control what stuff you'll see and whose posts and 'accomplishments' you'll see. For example, if you don't want to see who has found what "special egg", hover over one of those posts and a "Hide" word will appear. You can choose to hide that person's posts or that "game" appearance.

ya, i'm on as well,,, and there is a lot of junk,
but the nice thing about it, it keeps you closer in touch with family!

I'm there, and I like it. I access Facebook (and this forum too) from my IPhone and from my Mac. It's a great place for keeping up with family & sharing photos and adventures. I've gathered many of my cousins, extended family, lighthouse friends from several countries, and a good number of my high school classmates who are gathering for a reunion this year. I am able to "chat" with several friends in foreign countries for the price of just being on the internet.

I try to follow my own personal rules for safety sake:
I never post that I'm going somewhere, but will post about it only after I've returned.
I never post anything that might infer that I'm home alone.
I never post an address or a phone number.
I make my photos accessible only to friends and networks.

Sure there is junk, but John posted how to manage that...and, one man's junk is another man's treasure.

I do worry about those in my network who post personal information. One friend's daughter, a mortgage banker, posted that she would be at a certain open house (gave address) from 1pm to 4pm on a certain Sunday. She returned home to find her home had been robbed. She cried and fumed about it, but only two weeks went by before she made another similar post.

I saw a high school classmate post the other day that she would never post anything on the internet that could not be printed on the front page of the New York Times. She then proceeded to post her home telephone number for a friend to call when they arrived in town. :rolleyes: This lady was a straight A student in high school; wonder what happened along the way?

Like any social group on or off the internet, just use some common sense, and if you enjoy the group, don't let others sway you to leave it.

Judy

I'm on there. It has been great to keep in touch with so many people. It's been a way to find ( or be found) and keep in touch with people you may have lost before the world wide web.

I started using FB about a year or so ago. It was a great tool to locate classmates for our reunion last year. I enjoy it but I would recommend that you keep your personal info protected just in case.

Bob

I've been setup on Facebook for a while, but thought it was a lot of useless chatter. Now that I'm linked to many other Pharologists (lighthouse enthusiasts and experts), I enjoy the lighthouse related convesations and pics.

I avoided Facebook for quite awhile until I was contacted by an old classmate who was putting together a high school reunion. She created a Facebook page for the reunion and I finally decided that it was time to join in on the social networking phenomenom of the 21st century. It has not only hooked me up with some old friends, I find that it's a great way to keep up with my family which is scattered throughout the country. I was also able to create a page for the website. Due to Dana's illness, our Lighthouse Club newsletter had to be discontinued, but with the Facebook page I am able to post links to the day's lighthouse news every morning. It's a great way of keeping up to what's happening in the world of lighthouses.