The Ashimmy Blog: A Facebook success story

So we all join the take your pick social network (myspace, facebook, linked in). We network up with people we know or meet. Sometimes we even hook up with people we haven't seen in a while. Then we start trying to figure out what else we can do on these networks. What apps are available to get more value. But we sometimes forget that the real value in social networks is in the people. You don't need the calendar app. You don't need the snowball and have a drink stuff. It is really about getting together with people.

This weekend we visited a friend of my wife Bonnie's from elementary school. Bonnie went to school with this woman from kindergarten through 5th grade and had not really seen her since. So here we were 30+ years later and Bonnie and this woman found each other on Facebook. She lives in Connecticut , but her and her family have a second home in Ft Lauderdale. They were down for the long holiday weekend. Her husband and her have 3 kids around my kids age.

Bonnie and her friend made plans for us to come over on Sunday. Bonnie was very excited to see her friend, but didn't really know what to expect. After threatening our kids with lifelong video game bans if they did not behave, we headed over. When Bonnie saw her friends they were both moved to tears. After that, they picked up where they left off 30+ years ago. Our kids had a great time playing Wii with their kids and they had football on the TV, so Bonnie's friends husband and I did the universal male thing, talk football. We stayed for about 3 or 4 hours and a great time was had by all.

Heading home Bonnie was so happy that she saw her friend. It was a very special day for her. She got home and tried to figure out how to find other friends she had. And that is the real power and attraction of social networks.