Placing the Facebook Face

Because I work from home, I often feel a bit isolated, as many writers do. Each morning and evening (and sometimes at lunch), I check my Facebook and find “friends” out there doing the same thing I do—working alone, with only my computer and the characters in my story.

Many Facebook friends I know face-to-face and they are “real”. Some I feel like I know them from reading their books, blogs, or posts. And some of them I’d just like to know personally one day.

So when I attended the Writers on the Rock conference recently, I was surprised to see so many familiar faces. There were dozens and dozens of them. My mind raced. I tried to pull information from the far recesses of my mind. I panicked more than once.

How do I know them? From Focus? From the local ACFW chapter in Colorado Springs? From other writers conferences? From a book? Where? Finally I went into default. It had to be Facebook!

“We’re Facebook friends!”

Woman after woman smiled and said, “Yes! I know you!” She, too, was obviously as relieved as I was to place the face.

After a simple friendly chat, or sometimes over a meal, we Facebook friends made the transition to real, live friends. I knew that a few of them would become lifetime friends. But most of them would continue to be long-distance writer friends who, although Facebook would remain the primary means of communication, had also become “real”. I now know not only their faces and posts but also their voice, their mannerisms, their laugh. They were real people to whom I could relate.

And that is precious. Precious to connect on a deeper level. Precious to know the “real” person, even on a limited level.

So to all my Facebook friends who are “real”—thank you for sharing a bit of your life. And to you who I “know” through your writing, through the stories you tell or the transparency you show in your blogs or posts—thank you for sharing a bit of you, too. You all make my life richer, wiser, and a little less lonely. And for that I am grateful.

How has finding “real” Facebook friends impacted your life? I’d love to know!