This post was contributed by a community member. The views expressed here are the author's own.

Health & Fitness

Social Media—The Great Memory Enhancer

Social media sites like Facebook allow us to recapture some of the "best times" of our lives.

 

My son Anthony has a saying, "What good is having the Internet if you can’t learn something?" Of course he says this every time someone says, "what are you looking at…put down your phone!" And for a kid who didn’t like picking up a book in school, he is now loaded with some useful, mostly useless, knowledge on a variety of subjects.

But he has a point.

Find out what's happening in Mediawith free, real-time updates from Patch.

The Internet, in all its incarnations, has become one of the greatest tools for finding a lot of information in a short period of time on almost any subject you can think of. And social media sites, such as Facebook or Myspace have allowed us to find and reconnect with family, friends, and long lost acquaintances from our past. It also allows us to recapture what some would consider some of the best times of our lives.

I have to say I am a Facebook Fan. I’ll usually post one or two times a day. I keep up with the happenings of my friends and family both close and far and I have also used the medium to advertise personal events, public events, and even my campaign for council this past spring using a paid advertisement.

Find out what's happening in Mediawith free, real-time updates from Patch.

But one of the most intriguing things about Facebook is how with a sentence or two, someone can bring back a memory that has long been locked away in some little crawl in your mind. For instance, I attended St. Roberts Grade School in Chester. There is a "group" on Facebook named, well what else, St. Roberts Grade School (Chester PA). I and many of my former classmates actively exchange messages and memories from our days at school. And it has allowed me to reconnect with many folks that I had really not thought about in a long time. And some of these people are kids I used to see every day – for years!  

I think it’s a hoot to think back to a time when we were would walk home from school every day for lunch. Can you imagine kids walking today? Or when a teacher had no problem taking a yard stick to your backside for clowning around, and then getting home and have your dad do the same thing because he found out the teacher had to discipline you! What about all those teachers who you thought were odd or peculiar and it turns out they’re just like you and I were at that age? Collared shirts and neck ties? Games like Jail-Jail and Wall Ball or Pinkie Ball? I mean there’s a whole lot of memories of times gone by that when you think about it, shaped us into who we are today. Or better yet remind us of who the person we want to be.

As Bruce Springsteen lamented in his song, I think as we get older we are "trying to recapture a little of the glory." And I find that to be ok and a little comforting thinking about times gone by. Like any other tool or technology, the Internet can be used for good or bad.

You hear many stories of online scams and hoaxes and bullying. But there are also many more stories of long lost family, friends, and lovers reconnected though websites. And there are many campaigns to raise awareness of a friend’s plight, or a medical cause. It all depends on how you chose to use it. I chose the positive.

By the way, if you are a friend from years gone by, you’ll remember that Johnny Litwin gave me the nickname "Crick Rat." That came from long lost days of hanging in Chester Park – in the summer down by the creek – and sure enough I’d be in that creek swimming in my clothes. And then I’d be trying to figure out how I was going to tell my parents I wasn’t hanging in the park.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

The views expressed in this post are the author's own. Want to post on Patch?