A Working Mom's blog...redefining my use of Facebook

I wonder if you're like me and you joined Facebook out of utter curiosity or because your job somehow involved marketing and so, learning the ins and outs of Facebook became a priority...As far as I can tell there are many who have a love-hate relationship with the social networking giant. (Frankly, I love hearing the many perspectives on the subject!).

Facebook is a terrific way of reconnecting with old classmates and friends. Let's face it, having a surprise "friend" request always brings a smile. I love the various networking angles - besides providing a thruway for long distance friends and family - FB gives me the avenue for connecting with school families. It's an opportunity to get to know each other better as it gives us a glimpse into each other's lives through photos and updates where normally the conversations in person are about assignments or activities.

So, why jot this down? I've started using Facebook in other ways recently, too, and thought I'd shout this out to others. With work and family and because I can tend to be a news-hound (I studied Journalism in school!), I'm always wrestling with the amount of paper communications I receive and want to read. For a while, I subscribed to email newsletters to see if that would help the paper-monster.

Now, I "like" the page on Facebook. So, instead of hunting a few news websites or reading e-newsletters, when I peek at Facebook, I see news snippets right in the newsfeed I'm already looking at. I can choose to read them or simply scroll on by. I've liked a few (e.g. Today show, WTNH) and now am narrowing down which ones to continue to subscribe to, but it's been especially fun to see news updates (often events-related) from Hamden Patch and CT Parent Magazine for example.

Because I've enjoyed taking advantage of the one-stop-shopping and going to that one newsfeed, I thought I might "like" some other pages. I noticed a bunch of friends who post or "like" funny parenting jokes or other kinds of cutesy joke images. It made me wonder if Facebook was a spot for a dose of inspiration without going to the library for a book or having to read through entire excerpts online. Bingo! I found a few pages to "like" and now I see short and sweet posts (often one sentence or a single image) about gratitude, crafts, organization, parenting, and more (I even 'liked" Don't Sweat the Small Stuff!). Actually, given that newfound use of obtaining one-sentence-info, I've turned to FB when considering a new hobby - like my daughters' new love of duct tape crafts - I immediately went to "like" two pages where I now can see ideas within my newsfeed.

Are there other ways you've made use of Facebook? I guess asking a question like that begs the question - do we have to friend each other to chatter about FB? Just kidding. Please comment if you're up for sharing a tip!