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Was There Life Before Facebook?

I remember the exact time and place when my friend mentioned she had been whiling away her morning on Facebook, catching up with old school mates and reminiscing.

“What’s Facebook?” I innocently enquired (don’t mock, I was a mother with 3 children under 7 and a head full of Cbeebies).

“Oh it’s fab” she said “You really must check it out”.

And so I did. That very day back in 2007. Yes, yes, I know that I was about 3 years late to the party.

Who can actually remember the days B.F. (Before Facebook)?

A life when anonymity was a very real possibility; when we couldn’t delve into the past to discover who our first boyfriend actually ended up with. And we had to telephone friends to arrange a catch-up. Remember those hedonistic days?

Nope. I don’t either.

Well for the sake of my children and anyone born after 1990, I thought it was about time that we had a little look back. This my friends, is what life was like in the good old days dark ages….

  • We actually sent birthday cards. Real life ones. In the post. Using a stamp and everything.
  • When on holiday, we would buy a postcard, write on it (by hand) and send it to our nearest and dearest, just to let them know that we were ok.
  • On retuning from said holiday, we would print out photographs. Actual, hold-in-your-hand photographs. We would even put them into albums – the kind that you line up on the bookshelf.
  • No one felt compelled to look at these photographs. Especially not people who barely knew us, or anyone featuring in them.
  • The telephone was not a nuisance, it was a lifeline. We would spend hours and hours talking on the phone with friends. In a private conversation.
  • We couldn’t care less about the people who never really liked us when we were at school. The past really did stay in the past.
  • We had no idea what anyone else was doing on Sunday afternoon. We couldn’t care less what they were eating for tea on Tuesday night. And we really did not want to know what colour pants they were wearing.
  • Our bathrooms got cleaned on a weekly basis. Honestly they did.
  • Secrets were a very real possibility. As were sickies….
  • We were blissfully unaware of not being invited to THAT social event.
  • We did love our daughters, mothers, brothers and Auntie Fanny down the road….we just didn’t need to share a badge in order to prove it.

Is it coming back to you now?

Despite all of this and the very fact that sometimes I hate Facebook with a passion, I don’t think that I will be deleting my account anytime soon. We’ve become quite accustomed to one another over the last 9 years. Besides, I know you would all miss my cute puppy dog spam/apres-ski snaps/daily updates on life chez nous.

Inside, Outside & Beyond

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6 COMMENTS

  • I didn’t get Facebook until September 2009! The only reason I got it was because nobody took their photos into work any more! It was the start of a long and slippery slope, taking in a blog, Twitter and Instagram and leaving me with no free time ever.
    And I still print off photos and put them in actual albums! I have over 100 of them since my eldest was born ?

    • Suzanne W
      AUTHOR

      It’s great that you still print off photos. I’m scared that Facebook or my Mac will one day just wipe the lot!

      • Suzanne W
        AUTHOR

        Yay! Thanks so much. It feels good to be back 🙂

  • natalie

    Oh lovely I am just not into Facebook at all – I have recently set up a page for my blog but haven’t got any friends or anything. I just don’t know if I can bear it. I hate everything being about numbers and followers and the number of friends (I have actually wrote a post on this so wont go on!) it makes me feel inadequate. Also I kind of like being of the radar from all people I went to school with – I figure that the people I want in my life are in it!

    Sorry I feel like I turned this into a real moan! Welcome back my lovely – I love your new blog, I am off to have a little mooch around!

    • Suzanne W
      AUTHOR

      Thanks for dropping by! I know not everyone is into Facebook and I don’t really like ‘pages’ but I do like my profile. It brightens up my day. But yeah, you’re not alone in feeling inadequate, I know LOTS of people are like that! x

  • Tracey Williams

    I too joined in 2007 and just the other day husband and I celebrated our 9 years of being friends on FB. The huge question is how did we communicate for the other 8 years we have been together? Yes we called each other on phones, we sat next to other and lovingly put the baby pictures in albums. And when both our kids were born we used the telephone to actually tell people. Who would have thought you could do that instead of posting a FB status lol x

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