Praising Facebook Again
- Posted on 4th June 2016
- in celebrity books, Entertainment, entertainment books, Film Production, Hollywood books, Hollywood High School, Hollywood memoirs
- by Ben
This
piece may be somewhat redundant with the one I posted last October (2015) but it’s been on my mind a lot lately, particularly with all the politics in the air, and I felt compelled to share it.
People complain, with some justification, about the downside of social media; Twitter, Instagram and the myriad others about which I know little or nothing but I’m here to write about the wonders of Facebook.
I have been aware of its existence since early in Facebook’s life. I opened an account in September 2009 though I didn’t use it much. Even so, in the next two or three years the first wonder of Facebook became apparent to me. I was able to find and reconnect with several old friends with whom I’d lost contact, exchange phone numbers and email addresses and renew dormant relationships using more private forms of communication.
Other than finding these connections I paid Facebook very little attention until June of 2013. That’s when my book marketing coach, Don McCauley, began teaching me to use social media to market my book. At that point I had just published Three Stages the first volume of my memoir trilogy which covers my early life in Tennessee, migration to Hollywood and my years as an actor/singer. Don dubbed it a celebrity book for marketing purposes because of the many stars I’d worked with. Since then I’ve completed the other two books, Circumstances Beyond My Control – about my years as a freelance producer and first assistant director in film – and Waiting for Elizabeth – the saga of my divorce and remarriage framed within my evolution to video director/editor.
Anyhow, once I became active on Facebook and started connecting with my (actual) friends it slowly dawned on me that I was learning a lot about many of them – mostly film people and performers I’d worked with over thirty-plus years – that I’d never suspected. There were philosophical grips, political prop people, sarcastic directors of photography erudite electricians and a mix of admirable traits and expressive locution all over the place. Activist actors and poetic piano players I knew from theatre. It was (is) amazing how much and yet how little I knew of these people with whom I’d shared so much. I even discovered a couple of damn good authors (Brandon Maggart and Jeff Naparstek) among my old theatre and film pals and another, Jess Waid from Hollywood High. (I did the voice over for his video pitch.)
Jess Waid Books
Show business is like that. Whether you’re an actor in a play or the AD on a big film production you are part of a team with a specific goal. Everyone is focused on the objective and, in most cases, striving to do their best and the collegiality is centered on that particular project. There’s a lot of talk, joking, kidding around and general camaraderie but it rarely, in my experience, strayed far from the work at hand so that although there was a bond and the closeness of shared effort the working-friend type relationships had their limitations. I could name a dozen or even a score of folks who I absolutely loved working with and counted among my favorite people and didn’t even know if they had a sister or brother. I never recall talking politics and having discussions of literature and musical tastes were extremely rare. If you consider a human as a circle we knew one another intimately in a 25 to 30 degree arc and the other 330 to 335 degrees were a total mystery.
One additional observation: After using Facebook for a while you get to the point where you know who of your friends (actual and/or FB) posted something just by the headline or the graphic. If it’s a picture of an Eastern Holy Man: Jack L, an antique motorcycle: either Rob N or the other Jack, a sad looking homeless dog: Mila, Texas music scene: Byron L, a philosophical quote: Suzy C. I can go on and on but you all know what I mean. The only thing I see that could be nearly any of my friends – both real and FB only – is some variation on “Feel The Bern!”
I’m tempted to name more names here in extolling the wonders of what I’ve learned about dozens of my former colleagues but I’d be sure to leave out a few so I’ll simply say, “Thank you Facebook for enabling us to get to know one another in a much more complete way than would have been possible without you.”
You’ll find my books here and a free e-Book here.
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