We’re the middle children of history…. no purpose or place.  We have no Great War, no Great Depression.  Our great war is a spiritual war.  Our great depression is our lives.~From the movie Fight Club, about Generation X

Lately I’ve been explaining to people only a few years older than me the reason I use social media. Some have said “if you want to keep in touch with friends, why not just send them an e-mail?” Or, “why would you want to put your life online like that?” These are all valid points, but there’s a whole other justification to social media that I think they’re missing. I should first remind you that I’m part of Generation X, but considered a “straddler” because I’m right at the beginning of the Millennial Generation, as well.

Yes, I of course use my social media accounts to promote this blog, but that really isn’t my main reason for having them. I saw a quote once that said  Facebook is for keeping in touch with people who used to be your friends and Twitter is for meeting people who should be your friends. That statement rings 100% true for me. I have come to look at these accounts as a very unique way of communicating with people.

On Facebook, my friends and I post (for the most part) positive things that are going on in our lives. We are very supportive of each other and it always feels nice to hear from them; even if it’s sporadic. On Twitter, I follow a variety of people – some simply because they’re hilarious. From time to time, we engage in discussions about current events which takes some talent to do in 140 characters or fewer per post. Twitter is where I’ve found other bloggers and expats from whom I’ve learned a great deal and it also provides me with real-time news snippets.

So, the type of relationships that I maintain through my social media accounts is recently created and I have yet to find a suitable label for it. Obviously, I don’t see the people in my networks on a regular basis nor will be going to visit any time soon. Whether or not they fall into any traditional categories of what a “friendship” should be, I’m very glad that technology has created a way for us to remain in each other’s lives.

How do you view social media in terms of relationships?

All day yesterday CNN had stories about immigrants all over the world. As SB 1170, Arizona’s ridiculous immigration bill went into effect, it was interesting to see that undocumented immigrants is not a problem inherent to the US. Hearing these stories (sometimes sad, sometimes uplifting) reminded me of a post a wrote when I first started this blog “Is it me, or has it gotten better?”. At that time, I felt that immigrants faced fewer obstacles today than they did 20 years ago. I was thinking about the many first generation immigrants like myself who held positions of leadership, were well-educated and still held a strong connection to their countries of origin. I also thought about a time when young Haitians living in the Northeast were forced to say that they Jamaican to avoid facing stigmas and/or violence. Now, it felt like more of us made a point to declare our heritage.

From afar, I’ve been watching this immigration bill unfold amongst Arizona immigrants, as well as the Federal Government’s reaction. One of things that has struck me as odd is that they have debated this issue as Latino problem. I may have missed it, but I have yet to see a black immigrant speaking about immigration reform and what it means to them. I know that Latinos outnumber us (heck, they outnumber Caucasians in some states), but why does it seem we are weak faction of this movement? Where are the representatives from the Caribbean and sub-Saharan African countries? From what I understood, they were facing just as many obstacles to obtain legal documentation.

Now, I’m not trying to divide immigrants by singling out blacks because we all have the same issues. However, I think it’s important that we fight just as hard or even harder for fair immigration reform. Otherwise, should we expect to reap the benefits?