If you think Facebook is just a passing fancy, consider some statistics cited by Time Magazine in naming Facebook’s founder, Mark Zuckerberg, their Person of the Year. Facebook “going away” would be the equivalent of the world’s 3rd largest country falling off the planet!! In the article by Lev Grossman, he says, ” It’s (Facebook) a permanent fact of our global social reality. We have entered the Facebook era, and Mark Zuckerberg is the man who brought us here.” He’s not even 30 years old yet!!
While Facebook has been embraced by both the for profit and non-profit worlds to further their respective causes, I think the most valuable contribution it makes remains the personal interaction aspect. 
Case in point, I received over 100 birthday wishes yesterday-some from people I’ve known all my life, some from people I met years ago while traveling, some who are family, some near, some far, and some I’ve worked with in the past. Most of those folks wouldn’t have even known it was my birthday if it weren’t for Facebook. Some, of course, would have known, and while they would have meant to, they would likely not have taken the time to send a card or may have been too busy to give me a call. I am very sincere when I say that receiving those messages made my day-all day! Even my friends who typically take a voyeuristic approach to their Facebook activity took the time to send me a happy birthday message. It certainly doesn’t replace face time with family and friends, but, at least in my case, it improved my quality of life-over a hundred times:)
I’d love to hear your thoughts on the topic. Do you think Facebook will eventually fade away, like the pet rock? Do you have a story to share about Facebook making a positive impact on your life? I’ve got hundreds:)
