Facebook has its goofy side, but it's still a source of human contact

There are times I find myself thinking Facebook is a colossal waste of time.

During the last few years I was working, I wasted a lot of time on the Internet, and that was before I even joined Facebook.

In those days, I was spending a lot of time on baseball sites and also on Huffington Post doing my part to hold back the right wing.

I can't remember who got me to try Facebook, but I do recall that most of my time was spent playing Mafia Wars, Zombie Lane and some interactive war game whose name I can't remember.

I really didn't post very often and I rarely commented on other people's posts.

It was just another way to kill time.

Then Chris Miller came along. And Joyce Lundeen. And Leslie Eglin, Tara Hagenbrock and Donna Sizemore. Each of those people were friends -- some closer than others -- who I hadn't seen or been in contact with for 20-30 years.

All were on Facebook.

So were former colleagues, acquaintances and even a few relatives. Not to mention my closest friends in the world, and this gave me another way to keep in touch with them. I really wish that was all I did on Facebook, along with maybe promoting the other writing I do, but I get snaked into far too many political discussions with far too many people I don't respect.

Facebook? You bet.

Ask yourself a question. Have you ever been involved in a political discussion on Facebook where you changed someone else's mind? Or where someone else changed yours? Seriously, have you ever posted something that said "Wow, I never thought of it that way" and really looked at an issue differently?

In fact, I think if I were going to curse someone, I would say "May you always be 100 percent certain of everything you believe."

That's why issue-oriented posts really do tend to waste our time, especially if they result in a pro-con debate on an issue. Global warming? Climate change? This is an important issue to my friend Mick -- I have no idea why; he's not the outdoorsy type -- and he argues the unpopular side of the issue.

Responses to issue posts usually end up being either "You da man" or "You're an idiot," although most are milder versions of those two. Mick is different in that respect. He usually posts long, convoluted responses filled with an amazing amount of detail. When that doesn't work, he accuses you of not understanding the issue the way he does.

I'm actually convinced that political discussions and related arguments are actually the most useless part of Facebook. Although all the stuff people post about how important coffee is to them isn't much better, and if you need Facebook to learn about Jesus, you probably have other problems.

I love dogs, and I'm not much of a cat person, but all the stuff posted about dogs and cats eventually wears on you. Actually everything becomes repetitious if you spend enough time online.

Facebook? Uh huh.

What do I enjoy about Facebook. I mentioned my long-lost friends earlier, but it has also been nice to be able to keep in closer touch with my daughter Pauline, who regularly posts photos of her three wonderful children -- my three wonderful grandchildren -- on Facebook.

Here's the oldest -- 6-year-old Madison -- swimming like an eel underwater. Between Facebook and Skype, I can actually keep track of them when they are thousands of miles away on the other side of the world.

I can keep track of my only two nephews -- Jacob and Nathan -- through Facebook.

Maybe the nicest surprise of all, though, was seeing that Billie Johnson and Red Jenkins were on Facebook. The last time I saw Billie was in June 1967. She was my 12th-grade government teacher, one of the very best teachers of my high school years. Red was the basketball coach at my high school and my phys ed teacher in both ninth and 11th grade.

I actually had some contact with him in 1981, when my first newspaper job brought me back to my old school to cover a basketball game. I'm pretty certain it was the only time in the last 48 years I actually set foot inside the school.

Both of them are retired now, and the age difference between us means a lot less to me at age 65 than it did when I was 17.

So yes, Facebook has its good points.

I just have to learn to stay out of the arguments. After all, it's a lot like wrestling with a pig. You both get dirty and the pig enjoys it.