5 Things I LOVE about Facebook

Will I follow up with 5 things I hate?  Maybe, but on the whole I think Facebook is a wonderful thing, so don't count me among the Facebook haters!  :)


1.  Reconnecting with friends:  Somehow the art of letter writing seems to have died around 1990.  I remember in high school and college having several friends with whom I would exchange long, chatty letters on a regular basis.  I loved that feeling of getting a fat envelope in the mail and knowing that it contained a letter from someone I cared about!!  But somehow after 1990 it's like we all ran out of paper.  There are lots of different things you can blame for that, but I think the biggest one is the advent of computers.  Most of us by that time either had learned or were learning to use a computer, and that was when more and more people were buying them for home use.  Why that meant no one was writing anymore I can't explain, but somehow it did.  Yet using email seemed too difficult for many people, and not as personal.  Facebook changed all that, especially once older people discovered it.  When I first heard about it, everything I heard was negative and seemed to be all about teenagers (granted it was also mostly MySpace I was hearing about, not Facebook).  When my eldest entered adolescence I decided to check it out,
and almost instantly loved it!!  It's like a combination personal newsletter, bulletin board, and virtual note passing tool.  :)  I've been able to connect with lots of old friends, people I already knew in real life but with whom I had lost touch, and it's great to feel connected again with these people whom I never stopped caring about...

2.  Being able to maintain and grow friendships.  This could probably be combined with the first, since it's all about friends, but in the spirit of my Blist format I decided to break it down a bit more.  Reconnecting is just the first step, and I'm also connecting with new friends whom I've just met.  Facebook is a simple way that we can connect in very real ways--it's like an online party or social gathering, but it never ends and there's no cleanup for the host!  Like any real party, yes sometimes there are arguments or hurt feelings, because there are still real people involved.  This is just human nature, and not something that can be blamed on Facebook.  (This is also why parents insist teens with Facebook have adult supervision--it's not about privacy; it's about protection!)  For the most part, however, it's just really fun to be able to socially interact with friends all over the globe in this virtual location!  We can laugh over jokes and funny pictures, talk about movies and books, sympathize and pray over medical concerns and family troubles, give advice about new products and new places, rejoice together over victories and accomplishments, tease about whose sports team is the best, discuss political ideas, share news and events, and best of all share lots and lots of pictures!!

3.  The Games.  Yes, I know people rant about the games, and many people hate them, but I find them fun and harmless diversions.  Most can be played absolutely free (the in-game purchases being completely optional), and you can put as much or as little time into them as you wish (unlike those online game "worlds" such as Worlds of Warcraft or Minecraft, which not only cost money to play but where player killers and griefers can destroy or steal what you build or collect, if you don't monitor it carefully and continually).  Facebook games are easy to block for those who don't play--I have lots of them blocked myself, so my newsfeed isn't cluttered up with game posts for games I don't want to play.  The trick is moderation, like most things--limit yourself to one or two, and limit the daily time you spend on each also, if necessary, but otherwise have fun there is no harm in playing games once in awhile!  Like someone said at the Minecraft convention we recently attended (paraphrased), "internet games are simply replacing television for most people, and we see that as a good thing because the games are much more interactive and mentally engaging!" 


4.  The new cultural traditions.  One of the best, imho, which prompted this very blog, is the "30 days of Thankfulness" in the month of November.  Some people joke about it, saying that the rest of the year Facebook is for griping, but it really is a beautiful thing.  :)  Other fun traditions I've enjoyed are "throwback Thursdays" where people post or re-share photos from earlier years, the occasional "weeks" that pop up from time to time (80s week, 90s week, baby week, and so on), and the 25 days of Christmas Carols in December.  Like the games, you can take them or leave them--participation is not at all a requirement of being on Facebook!  I really find those fun though, and many are so positive. 

5.  Facebook "memes."  I don't know if I'm using this modern term in the same way most people understand it, but to me the "memes" are photos or banners that people share, often amusing but sometimes inspirational!  Yes, some of them get tiresome after awhile as they seem to be overdone--the "repost if" emotional banners (if you love your daughter,love  your son, hate cancer, etc.), "most interesting man in the world" jokes, or the series of blocks put together of "what people think I do, what I really do, etc."  But even when I get tired of them, sometimes I'll then see one that genuinely makes me laugh or smile all over again!  Many times they are great fun, especially when it's something new that hasn't been done to death. 

Ultimately I just find Facebook fun, and harmless.  People rant about many of these things as being "annoying."  Some of these people just don't like change, and the new internet culture, and that's understandable.  Others are going to be "wet blankets" at an IRL party just as much as the Facebook virtual one.  ;) 


One brief postscript--the concern about privacy.  I worry a bit about privacy too, but in this day and age I truly think the only people who truly have any semblance of privacy are the amish, and perhaps the people living deep in the jungle.  In this internet world, privacy as we knew it before no longer exists, and if you are that worried about it you are probably living in the wrong Country (meaning pretty well any Nation in the "civilized" world).  I think the owners of Facebook are doing all they can to protect us and keep their virtual environment as safe as possible, and I appreciate that.  I'm not going to lose any sleep over it, or change my life around just because someone I don't know might dare to look at my picture or use my family photo for an ad in the Ukraine someday.  ;) 

What motivates people?

This is completely random, but the more I live the more I have become convinced that there are only 5 primary things that motivate the heart of mankind (as in all human beings).  These motivations are not "evil" by themselves, but can lead to either bad or good choices.  I've put them in what I feel personally are the most likely order of how often these motivators control people's actions (though this will of course vary by the person, and the situation):

1.  Wealth

This is most commonly money, but can also be a large house or a nice car or etc.  People will lie, cheat, steal, and manipulate data to create the growth of wealth.  People will also work hard, get an education, network, and create new things in the pursuit of wealth.  1 Timothy 6:10 reads:  "For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil."  Notice this involves LOVE of money, not just its pursuit, and also all KINDS of evil, not ALL evil.  There is nothing bad about wanting success, including wealth, as long as you aren't in love with it as your primary or ONLY motivation, and allowing yourself to slip into the dark paths of obtaining it. 



2.  Power

Power is a multi-headed beast with a thousand faces.  It can be political power, fame or popularity (which gives you the power to make people care what you think and what you are doing), corporate power, power within the family dynamic, persuasion (power within a group to be able to lead others into doing what you want them to do), physical power (ie, strength and the ability to best others in a fight or a sport), power to improve your lot (in this world or the next), mental power to solve problems or impress people with your knowledge, and much more.  Power in its simplest form is strength, and the ability to do things, but the real motivator is usually the ability to do things better than someone else.  Those whose primary motivation is power don't just want to be AS powerful as someone else, but always will want to have MORE power.... thus the saying "power corrupts; absolute power corrupts absolutely."

3.  Fear
Fear is another powerful motivator, though it often combines with the other desires.  Fear plus wealth equals the desire to have enough money so that you (or your children) will never want for anything.  Fear plus power equals the desire to never allow anyone to hurt you or command you ever again.  Fear plus sex equals the desperate desire to not be alone, and often results in the most disastrous of relationships.  Fear plus love is what creates over-protective mothers and over-controlling fathers.  Fear is not always a bad thing either, however.  Fear of being killed in an accident is a good motivator for always wearing your seatbelt, never texting while driving, and never riding in a car driven by someone who has been drinking (whether that someone is you or someone else)!  Fear of dying in a tornado has been the motivation for a lot of storm shelters, many of which have in fact saved lives!!  Fear of embarrassment can sometimes cause people to dress more modestly or avoid getting a tattoo that they may seriously regret in the future! 


4.  Sex
Like the others, this obviously has the possibility for negative directions--various forms of perverse behaviors, exploitation of others, immodesty, lewd behavior, etc.  But it also is a huge motivator for finding a spouse and creating children, and within the limits of marriage can be a beautiful thing.  Inside marriage it can motivate you to keep the romance alive and continue to court your spouse.

5.  Love
This should be a lot higher, though it seems it rarely is.  Love is the one motivator which is almost never negative on its own, though it certainly can sometimes be exercised in a negative way when combined with power or fear.  Love is the motivator which allows millions of parents to change the dirtiest of diapers.  Love is the choice made by a spouse who is serious about his or her lifetime commitment, staying by your spouse even when times are hard.  Love is the motivator which allows a living person to give up a kidney, or send money to orphans in Haiti, or work at a soup kitchen--love for fellow man.  Love is the motivator which sends Missionaries into dangerous areas just to tell people the good news about Jesus.

MINECON 2013 Review

We took our kids to Minecon this year, so I thought I'd do a Blist review.  Let's get the WORST 5 things over first, then move on to the BEST (in my personal opinion, of course!).  There are some truly great "bests," so don't think we didn't like it based on the "worsts"!  :)

1.  At $150 a ticket, it's one of THE most expensive "cons" out there, which is bizarre considering that it is also one of the newest and smallest.  Part of the reason it is so expensive is that they book a theme park for all attendees the first night (last year Disney Paris, this year Universal Islands of Adventure).  I say if I want to go there I can do that separately--I'd much rather have a cheaper ticket and/or a longer convention, and NOT have that be part of it!!!  The expenses don't stop there, either--the Orange County Convention center turned off all the water fountains, trying to force you to purchase their $3+ water bottles.  Food prices there are jacked up too--$9 to $10 for fast food junk like a personal pizza or hamburger (no drink or fries included, those are another $3-4 each).  Being in Orlando or Paris doesn't help either.  People will GO to this thing wherever they have it, so why not go somewhere that is less of a tourist trap?  I'm betting there are smaller towns out there with rocking convention centers and cheaper hotels & services!! 

2.  Crowd control was a problem, especially for the "panels."  I heard many many stories of people waiting in line for an hour or more only to be turned away at the last minute (including one of my own sons!).  They could easily solve this by having one of the volunteers or staff hand out tickets or stamps (on a hand or a stamp card or whatever) as people arrive to line up an hour or so in advance of each session. Once you are stamped, you can go have fun until it's time for the actual session instead of wasting time sitting in line... or if you are the 201st person in line for a panel that only has room for 200, you have time to go to another panel at the same time instead of being forced to miss both (too late for the 2nd, too far back in line for the first).  Many of the panels were led by amateurs too, so after waiting all that time people were walking out after 10-15 minutes.  There's nothing wrong with amateur panels, of course, but more information about which panels were professional and which were just for fun wouldn't have hurt either.  Many of the best panels were held at the exact same hour, or so close together that it was impossible to go to both. The most likely solution to this would be to extend the next Con to 3 days, which they may not be prepared to do yet, but that would give them time to space things out better and/or have duplicates of the best panels (like one about kids writing Code which attendees are raving about, but I was disappointed to not get into... I'm hoping Mojang or *someone* might post that on youtube at some point so I can see the presentation).

3.  Access to the "big names" was a huge disappointment for many, especially kids (close to 2/3 of the attendees were probably 16 and younger, with the biggest age group in the 10-14 range). They should have had photos pre-signed in advance to hand out or sell (inexpensively) for those who couldn't get into the meet and greet sessions. Better still, do that AND have more than one meet and greet scheduled for people they KNOW in advance are going to be insanely popular.

4.  Some of the presenters were also not very well prepared for a crowd of that size... I'm not sure what the problem was there, space or lack of information or ?? For example, there was one company with a cool virtual reality roller coaster... it had ONE game available, in 10-minute increments (8 minutes' game time plus prep).... for 7,500 people, seriously?? There were only two stores (Think Geek and Jinx), which had a lot of staff, but it still seemed not nearly enough to handle a crowd of that size.  There were HUGE lines all day both days. This could be solved several ways--selling fewer tickets, allowing more vendors to break up the crowd wanting to buy things, getting a survey of fans and/or attendees in advance to get an idea of which things will be more popular and need more space and equipment, or probably more ways that just haven't occurred to me!

5. This is a minor one, but we thought the overall presentation was just not very professional.  Perhaps we've been spoiled, or been listening to my uber-professional aunt too much, but both Dave and I commented that the main presentations (opening, closing, and the costume contest) seemed quite amateurish and slapped together.  Part of this could be the youth and inexperience of the person they hired to handle the convention, but really they could have done SO much better.  Just a couple of quick specifics:  there were "dead spots" during the major presentations where the audience was just sitting there; neither presentation started on time, nor was there any apology or explanation offered for the late starts; the sound system was erratic, sometimes MUCH too loud and other times hard to hear; the costume contest was very poorly organized.  To explain the last just a bit more, the way they did the costume contest was to tell you to wear your costume full-time for the first "couple of hours" of the convention.  There was no clear judging time or place, but just some mysterious "team" with cards to hand out to costumes they happened to see and like as they wander about.  Really?  The easy and obvious answer would have been to have a "parade of costumes" across the stage first thing as part of the opening ceremonies.  This would not only ensure the judges are able to SEE every single costume, but would also allow all their child fans who worked so hard on their costumes to at least have a few seconds to shine and show them off for everyone.  :)  Moms would have appreciated it too, because many of those awkward cube heads could be put away after that, and those who made heavy and elaborate costumes could have put them away and enjoyed the convention freely, only having to put them back on for a little while at the end of the day when they announced the top choices and the final winners (they could still use the card system, but at the end of the parade line).

Okay, now for our BEST and favorites of Minecon 2013!!

1.  I have to say that the people who play, write, and love Minecraft are truly amazing.  All of the above problems could have been a LOT worse had the Minecraft fans and families not been so wonderful. :D That is by far my best experience from this thing--for all the thousands and thousands of people we met and spoke with and stood in line with this weekend, there was shockingly little rudeness, cursing, pushing, or other bad behaviors that you often see at big crowded events. Almost every person we met was kind and cheerful and friendly and patient, from the staff to the volunteers to our fellow attendees.  I've been to zoos and parks designed for little children that had worse atmospheres; the atmosphere here was truly amazing, and I have to shout out a huge BRAVO to all of my fellow Mineconians.  :)

2.  The flip side of my #3 worst thing about the big names is just WHO those big names were.  We saw programmers and amateur youtubers walk on stage to cheers and applause like rock stars.  Parents have been lamenting for decades about how their children's heroes tend to be movie stars, sports players, and musicians--people who are famous for talents, yes, but talents that are rare and in fields that are extremely difficult in which to make a living.  How many parents have wished their kids would admire professionals who earn a living with their brains, inspiring them to do better in school and pursue careers with a greater chance of success?  Parents, I give you Minecon.  :)

3.  Some of the presenters and "personalities" there were really great.  I was VERY impressed with Greg Aronowitz, for example.  He is the artist and special effects guru who created all of the artwork, diorama models, statues, etc. to decorate Minecon.  His work was professional; his panel was interesting and informative; and yet he was just as friendly and approachable as everyone else we met there.  The "master lego builder" from Legoland who designed the floor art in the lego exhibit was working the booth most of the weekend, talking with people and even taking photos for us.  There was a family who spoke at the "minecraft for families" panel with whom I was also quite impressed.  So while some of the vendors and exhibitors seemed unprepared and poorly organized, others were done quite well.  And while a few more exhibitors would have been nice to aid those areas that were too popular, overall there were plenty of different things to do and see!

4.  I thought it was really great how a big section in the exhibitors hall was devoted to indie developers.  There were numerous brand new baby games to try out, all of them being produced by small independent programmers and developers, like the team my son and some friends were trying to put together at his college.  Most of them were college age or not much older, and some of the games were really really fun and creative!  :)

5. My fifth thing is how happy it made the kids, because they definitely enjoyed themselves.  :)  I'll also add here what my kids said were their favorite bits.  Both said they loved the whole thing, but Phil's favorite was being able to meet some of his favorite Youtube personalities, and see the programmers (though we didn't really get a chance to meet any of them).  Thomas said his favorite thing was to try out "occulus rift," which evidently is the name of the 3-D platform allowing the immersive virtual reality experience of being inside the game.