Many of my friends and readers know how slow I am to embrace technology of any kind.

Before my daughters had an all-out campaign for me to buy an iPhone, I had one of those slider oldies. It was so old, in fact, that when I left it in a friend’s car and she tried to open it she didn’t know how because she never saw one that old.Well, my daughters were right when they said I was missing out by not being able to see their texts. When my daughter and her husband went to Vietnam, I was thrilled to be able to see daily videos of their experiences there.I also like that I can text them without having a ringing cellphone interrupt what they’re doing. But I was still more than reluctant to sign up for Facebook. Frankly, I don’t trust having all that private information “out there.”Once again, though, my daughters prevailed and I tiptoed into Facebook just to follow my daughters and grandchildren.I always believed Facebook is like a big swamp that sucks you in, steals your time and sometimes removes you from the real world for too long a time.With that in mind, this grandmother with technology phobia has a confession to make. I have fallen in love with social media. Well, sort of. Up until a year ago, I wasn’t even sure what people meant by “social media.” But I was sure I didn’t want any part of it, or, so I thought.What changed my mind is the Facebook site for our housing development. Two volunteers maintain it for the sole purpose of letting the residents share experiences and information and to get to know each other.What stunned me is how much vital information the site offers.When heavy rains had our canals flooding, alligators roamed yards and streets where we don’t normally see them. Instantly, as soon as one was spotted, a photo would alert others.Alerts also came when a panther was prowling through yards and when a number of car robberies took place.I’m amazed at how much newcomers can gain from that one site. There is a world of difference between the learning curve I had when I moved here and the ways newcomers get their questions answered in seconds.The Facebook page is also like a key that unlocks instant friendships. When I moved here, to meet people and make friends I had to join so many organizations I was on the go day and night.Now, it’s not hard to make friends in our 3,000 home development, thanks to our Facebook page. Every week brings the offer of parties and activities open to all who want to come.My new friend Diane, who moved here a year ago from Michigan, had a unique way of making friends. When she learned one popular guy was about to celebrate his 60th birthday, she told him she was going to host a party for him and open it to “everyone on our Facebook page.”“I told her she was at risk of having 1,200 people show up,” said the birthday celebrant. Well, it was more like 100, but for Diane, that meant 100 new friends now knew the way to her welcoming home.People keep coming back to her home because Diane keeps having fun activities like paint parties and art classes that she posts on Facebook to anyone who wants to come. Community meetup groups and many ladies luncheons are also featured on the Facebook site. If you’re in the mood for company, all you have to do is check the page, pick your favorite offering, and plan to have fun meeting new people.When I wrote a story about the way that site is bringing an entire community together and making it easier to make friends, I had a few emails from people thanking me for telling them about the site. But one woman, sounding a lot like I did last year, said she won’t join Facebook because “she doesn’t want everyone to be privy to her private life.”“Frankly,” she told me, “I’m afraid of Facebook. I don’t understand how people can put information on there about everything they are doing, even telling the whole world when they will be on vacation. It’s dangerous.”Yet she wants to attend the social functions featured on the site and keeps asking me to send her details.I agree with her. There are some things about Facebook that I find scary. For instance, when my friend Andy took my daughter and I on a night cruise through our waterways, we wanted Maria to see the alligators.We saw one too many when we couldn’t leave the boat after the trip because a 12-foot alligator was parked in our way. Maria photographed the whole thing.OK, here’s the scary part. BEFORE we were off the boat, Facebook grabbed her photos from “the cloud” and made a video, complete with music.Some don’t believe that could happen, but I saw it with my own unbelieving eyes.If Facebook can grab our photos “from the cloud” without permission, I see a lot of possible bad scenarios.Social media opens up a whole new way of connecting with others. In your opinion, is that good, bad or somewhere in between?Contact Pattie Mihalik at

newsgirl@comcast.net.