Facebook Fan? Twitter Addict? It's All Good!

It may sound crazy, but one of the biggest points of contention in our house is Facebook. My husband, my kids, and even a little bit of my dog, are constantly up-in-arms, claiming that I spend more time on Facebook than I do with them. Of course, one of my excuses is that I'm constantly on the computer writing for About, and I'm just "checking in" to my Facebook page to see what's happening. I'll admit that I do get roped in to flexing my vocabulary muscle by playing Scramble, and by having simultaneous instant message conversations with old buddies from my teen tour, with colleagues, with moms in my weekly support group, and with friends from the gym. But I see them all as opportunity to close the distance in time, to cultivate new friendships, or, simply, to help with a problem. I dabble in Twitter, but I'm not as addicted. All joking aside, social media outlets like Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn are providing such value to the world, it's difficult to make the argument that they are just a procrastination tool.

Case in point: How Social Media Saved Jaeli, a wonderful blog by Angela England about a four-month-old baby with a rare chromosomal disorder, who required breast milk to survive. The story is compelling in itself, but the social media aspect is what really amazed me. I won't ruin the story (or more, do it justice) by paraphrasing, so please read the blog for full impact!