Facebook

Imagine it is the year 2025. You were in high school when the Facebook trend hit it big, and now you’re in your thirties, you’ve got two preschoolers, and your leisure time is close to zilch. But here’s the thing: You’ve probably got something like 9,372 Facebook friends—pretty much everyone you encountered in life from the time you could speak! Man, it’s just about impossible to keep up with these people, some of whom you don’t even remember friending, but at least you know your pal Thaddeus from kindergarten is in the Peace Corps in Zaire, that Sarah from down the street is a Harvard Law grad who’s now a stay-at-home mom, that your college roommate Darcy is in rehab (and doing pretty well), and on and on. It’s a full-time job to keep up with all of these people, but hey, at least you’re still friends. In the age of Facebook, the idea of the “friend” is in flux, what with people of all ages turning to Facebook to stay in touch with friends from earlier eras, to make new friends, and to organize assorted gatherings and get-togethers. You are your Facebook profile, as it’s your home online, where you post photos, update your status, and keep others informed of the goings-on in your life. In years hence, people may not understand how friendship existed without Facebook—an online phenomenon that pretty much defines the trend known as social networking.