Of course I want responses if I post a picture on Facebook. It's exactly the same when I show a picture to a friend out in the world: I want a response. I have

Of course I want responses if I post a picture on Facebook. It's exactly the same when I show a picture to a friend out in the world: I want a response. I have something I want to share. This desire does not become magically "bad" just because it happens online. I have family and friends who live far away. I don't have the opportunity to visit them as much as I would like. If it was not for Facebook, I wouldn't see these pictures, or find out about events. The obvious counter to this is, "You would probably visit them more." I do not think that is true. Because I am able to find out what is going on with them on a regular basis, they stay in my mind, and I miss them more, and I want to go visit. I think that without Facebook and the ease through which I can maintain connections, these relationships would fade. And the obvious response to that is that the relationships weren't that strong to begin with, which I also don't think is true. Maintaining friendships over distance can be awkward for people who don't have a history of talking on the phone, or expressing themselves through text. Spending an inordinate amount of time on Facebook is bad. But this notion that using it at all is bad seems silly to me. People used to say similar things about phones.