Is Facebook Becoming The New “Ham Radio”?

I have always been a person that likes meeting new people. When I was 13 years old, I learned the Morse code and studied electronic theory and got my F.C.C. ham radio license. I set up a ham radio station in my bedroom and communicated with people all over the world via short wave radio. My first license was a Novice class, so I could only use Morse code. As I became more proficient at Morse code and studied more electronic theory, I was able to pass my General class exams at the F.C.C. office in downtown Buffalo. Once I had the higher license, I could now use voice transmission. Soon I was actually talking to people all over the United States and in many different countries. These were people I had never met before of all ages and social backgrounds. Some of them even became life long friends. Because of the life process of getting older and changing priorities, I fell away from ham radio.

Recently it occurred to me that having a Facebook account is almost like what ham radio was to me back in the 1970's.  Think about the similarities: you are communicating with people that you probably have never met in person before and you develop online friendships with people that were once strangers. I believe that Facebook is the new ham radio for people. It has completely opened up my world to new friendships. I have embraced it to the point where I have reached the Facebook limit of 5000 friends. Yesterday, on my birthday, over 600 people from all over the world posted birthday greetings on my page. The photo I am including in this blog was made for me by my friend Sherry in The Netherlands.