Getting Better - One FDG at a Time

750 million people use Facebook.
50% check it every single day. 
Every 20 minutes on Facebook one million links are shared.
I update Facebook between 3 and 10 times per day.

I spend too much time on Facebook - because it's my kind of social.  I love, LOVE to make peanut gallery comments.  I love to share, analyze, research, debate.  I like being challenged.  I like reading news stories I would never have found on my own.  I like having an easy venue to chat with old friends.  It's a very efficient place to make requests to borrow things from neighbors, or find a  place to watch the big game on a huge T.V.
I like Facebook.  I think it is useful; a good thing.

But is "good" getting in the way of "better?"

I try to make people think.  I try to show another side to each story; I try to show why the "extreme opposite view" might not be so extreme.

I try to get my friends talking.  I talk about politics, religion, medicine, parenting, and sports.  I post things knowing it could cause quite the debate.

But what is the point?  Does it ever change anyone's mind?  Is anyone a better person because I posted something on Facebook?
Is anyone's life really any better because I spent time on Facebook?

Am I wasting my time?

I don't know the ENTIRE answer - but I do know that I am at least wasting some time, and I could be using Facebook for something better.

I could post inspirational quotations.  I DO actually.  I post a lot of quotes from the books I read.  They have inspired and edified me - maybe they'll do the same for someone else.

That's not enough.  I want something real; something that might actually make a difference in the long run.  I know I can't change others, that's a futile endeavor.  I can only change me.  So I decided to start there. 

Each day I will be grateful.  I will publicly show my gratitude for one of my Facebook friends.  I won't just copy and paste a canned line saying "thanks for being my Facebook friend."  I will write something meaningful and honest.  I will tell people why I appreciate them and what they mean to me.  I will tell them about specific attributes or memories or moments that I have enjoyed.  I will give a Facebook Display of Gratitude.

I started two weeks ago.  I'm planning on doing one each day through Thanksgiving.  That should mean I'll do 109 FDG's.  It's really not much - but it's better than what I was doing before.

Isn't that the whole point - to do better than we did before?