FACEBOOK.

I recently spend some time trying to explain the virtues of facebook to a friend who is about 20 years older than me. He was having difficulty understanding why I would want to email or "comment" on a wall (he did understand the basics of the set up) when I could just call them, or better yet, not collect friend (or recollect friends) that I might not talk to on a regular basis.

I went through a variety of rationales for the value of facebook. I tried to explain varying forms of social networking and multiple ways of communicating. I am certain I did not sell him on any of these points.

For the past 2 and a half weeks I have been traveling in Europe (as you all know). During this time I have met more than a dozen new people all of who I would like to stay in touch with in one way or another (some I would like to see again and others I would enjoy communicating with). Regardless, of what type of contact I would like to maintain, I have Facebook as a resource. I did not have to trade business cards or write down information, I simply told people my name and that they could find me (or I could find them) on Facebook. I now have friends in Germany, Poland, Israel, and throughout the United States.

This is the value of Facebook.