Wife on tehFacebook

It finally happened.

After telling her sister, mother, brother, daughters, friends ... everyone who'd listen and others who wouldn't ... Wife finally broke down and set up a Facebook account.

I understand her hesitancy. She's heard stories about all the privacy concerns ... as well as others joking or complaining about things others do on tehFacebook.

But, I'd occasionally mention things someone said on tehFacebook ... family members, mostly ... and she'd laugh or ask about it before she realized that she was supposed to take the Facebook-is-stupid attitude.

Of course, my saying how stupid tehFacebook is didn't help. But I have a Facebook account. And, yes, it's stupid. But, I still have an account.

We'd go out to eat lunch, she'd grab a table at the Subway while I'd order the food. And, when I got to the table, she'd have the iPad open to tehFacebook, reading things family had posted on their wall.

I knew the day would come. And, this week, it did.

Wife set up her own account on tehFacebook. And, of course, it didn't take me long to find out.

I helped her with the security settings, so that she had full control (as much as tehFacebook allows, anyway) on who could see what. Turned most of the settings to "Friends Only" and turned some off altogether.

Now, she's a lot more comfortable with it. She's not ready to jump in full with it, though. She's not asked very many people to be friends. And, she's not accepted many friend requests.

So, if you know her, and send her a friend request, don't be upset if she doesn't accept the request right off. It's not personal.

At least, I don't think it is. That's what I'm telling myself. Because she still hasn't accepted my friend request.

Blackberry, Twitter, and Facebook

I never understood the whole Blackberry thing.

Until I got one.

I was going to get an iPhone, but AT&T's service in Columbus and the area isn't up to par with Verizon's. So, the next best thing? Looked like a Blackberry.

Now that I have one, I'm hooked.

And it has an unexpected ... to me, anyway ... side effect.

I've been on Facebook for a while. And Twitter for a bit, too. Only because I wanted to see what they were all about. My feeling? I can sum it up by "Um, okay, I don't get it."

And I guess that's because I only checked once a day, around suppertime. I'd rather read a blog, than a bunch of "I'm having spaghetti" or "Oh, the sky is so blue today" and such that you find on Twitter.

Facebook is a little more than that, of course. But still, it takes some getting used to, especially with going there just once a day.

But the Blackberry changes all that. Apps like TwitterBerry allow me to quickly access Twitter to update my status, or read others' statuses.

Then, there's the Facebook application for Blackberry. That allows you to access many of Facebook's features quickly. Or, go to Facebook itself.

Then, there's the Facebook Twitter application. That allows you to update Facebook from Twitter. It says you can update Twitter from Facebook, but I never got that to work. But, it does update Facebook from Twitter.

So, if I want to change my status, I do it with the Twitter app (TwitterBerry). If I want to check Facebook, I do it with the Facebook app.

There is one catch. If you update with TwitterBerry, your Facebook status does update. But the status you see on the Facebook app isn't updated. Not sure why. But your actual Facebook status is updated.

It's not perfect. So, if there's another way, I'm wanting to learn.

The Blackberry has done to me what it's done to so many others. It's addicted me to a Blackberry. And, it's making Facebook and Twitter more a part of my life.

Yes, it's silly. I know.

But my name is Basil. And I'm an addict. And I'm going to stay that way.