Ever get the feeling that things like Facebook just give you a false impression of being in touch with your friends and that without it there are certain friends that you would have actually seen more of?

Another reason why I have never had and will never have a facebook.

Before Facebook I rarely went somewhere to visit an old college or high school friend unless I was in town on unrelated business and could spare a few hours. I haven’t decreased that with the advent of Facebook; if anything I have increased it because I am up to date on what those out of town people are doing.

I don’t know. The kind of information people put on Facebook is weird. Videos of them making pizza. Owls in the backyard. Weird videos they find.

I never got that stuff before Facebook, and I’m not interested in it now. I think Facebook is a different universe altogether and has little to do with friendship as I know it. So it’s not an impression of being in touch with friends. It’s an impression of being in touch with pod people or pod friends or alternate universe friends.

My cousin went through a divorce on Facebook. I never would have know about it otherwise, and I’m not sure I am glad I know now. But since then, and not related to the divorce, I’ve stopped using Facebook. If people want to tell me something, they can do it when they see me. Otherwise, well, honestly, I have better things to do.

Without Facebook, I’d have little if any contact with one of my nearest and dearest friends, who moved across the country several years ago.

Now I speak to her daily, and we’re as close as we were sitting next to each other every day in History class ten years ago.

I still see her twice a year when she comes down to visit her family, but it’s not a novelty to have her over – it’s just a continuation of our long friendship.

I have stopped using facebook and my life is so much better. I got sick of the fakiness of people. I know who my real friends are now.

I have Facebook but decided from the get go to only ‘friend’ and be friends with people I care about. I’m not a kid so there’s a lot less garbage going on with my FB friends.
I get to stay connected to my friends and family ‘back home’ and that means everything to me! I might be on it daily for a half hour, max.

No. Facebook doesn’t somehow prevent me from being able to figure out how frequently I actually see people. And I can’t really afford to see those who don’t live nearby any more than I actually do, both financially and emotionally. Even those who do live nearby, I could technically see more, but doing so would interfere with my ability to do other things, like schoolwork; I can chat with someone or catch up on Facebook while writing a paper, but if I hang out with them, it’s normally considered rude to do other things while hanging out with them.

I also don’t think seeing them more would actually be preferable. Being around people physically is emotionally draining, even when I love them. Facebook (and social networking in general) allow me to have more interaction with people, because “I’m tired/cranky/distracted/yearning for jammies” doesn’t have to mean I can’t interact with people.

The people I have the least contact with in my life are the people who aren’t online (regularly). The ones I have the most contact with, both online and in person, are online all the time.

I’ve gotten to know many people who were formerly just acquaintances much better through Facebook. I feel like it’s actually expanded my circle of friends. As an introvert, I also agree with @Aethelflaed… the interactions I have on FB allow me to be much more sociable than I ordinarily would be.