If you aren’t on Facebook, you may feel that you’re missing something.

If you are on it, it’s the most amazing time suck ever. It’s also a great connection to finding and reconnecting with old friends and staying in touch with current friends and family.

Another good thing about Facebook is that what you say in one post will spread, which dismisses the need for you to compose a million separate emails and make numerous phone calls. When my mother-in-law passed away a few years ago, we made one post about our loss on Facebook and were astonished at the number of people who showed up to her funeral whom we hadn’t seen or spoken to in many years. It was a lovely thing to happen at a sad time in our lives.

The bad thing about Facebook is that everyone feels that they have to post every little perfect thing that happens in their lives. It’s like a really bad annual Christmas letter than gets sent all year long.

Remember the old Christmas letter? The one you received once a year from that friend you haven’t talked to in a decade? Every year you’d receive a four-page letter from her telling you about all the achievements her children made the previous year. Johnny won the local science fair and his team won the baseball championship. Suzie became class president and is on the honor roll. You never hear about the time Johnny came home drunk or when Suzie got arrested for shoplifting.

Everyone posts about their amazing trip abroad, their new boat and their perfect grandchildren. You never hear about the car accident they caused, the epic fail in the school play or the mortgage that’s not getting paid. I wonder just how many of those perfect Facebook posts are the truth and how many are made up or embellished.

And what’s this business about “likes?” It’s one thing if I “like” my friend’s funny post about the dog who drove the car, but it was totally disconcerting when I posted about a recent cancer surgery and I received likes for the post. Really? Folks liked my cancer? I don’t know about you, but I guess I have more enemies than I thought who liked me more when I got cancer. Perhaps I can write fiction better than I thought.

I think I’ll make my next post about how awesome cancer is. I’m betting I’ll get a bunch of likes. What do you think?