Normally I don’t tweet or update my status on LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, and other social networks. Occasionally I would respond to friends’ messages, but even that is rare. I stopped reading people’s twitter messages all together last week. I am trying to do a weekly check of Facebook and Flickr messages now, as opposed to daily. (I still register on social network sites though, just as a way to get a pulse of virtual life.) Part of this is due to my time constraints, part of it is encouraged by Baron Schwartz’s great post here. I do care deeply about about my friends though. Friends here can mean people I’ve met face to face. Friends can also mean people whose web presence I follow, and touched me in some way. Strictly speaking, people in the second category should not be called friends, because

a) we haven’t met;
b) they might be drastically different from what I perceive them to be, which is possible. But from my experience of meeting people face to face after knowing them online for a while, usually at least a year or two, they are all consistent with their online persona, or rather, my perception of their online persona;
c) I may think they are my friends, but that feeling may not be mutual.

Anyway, in my usual convoluted way, I gave you this: my first ever Facebook personal message! See below. System generated message, such as messages tagged to Facebook groups, didn’t count. I support children’s education wholeheartedly, and feel OCEF is an organization I can trust. As a principal, I don’t support any political or religious causes, except in very few and rare circumstances.

Without further ado, here is my first message on my Facebook wall. Darn it, writing this post totally screwed up my original plan of going to bed before 10:30!

Hey friends,

OCEF (Overseas China Education Fund) is a non-profit for a great cause. I am a volunteer and have donated in the past. Because of my involvement with this organization, I feel confidant that my money is going to the right place: education for less-privileged children in China.

Haidong

Here is more info I copied and pasted from Facebook’s annual Giving Challenge Event.

By donating $10 to OCEF (Overseas China Education Foundation), you can help us to win $50000 grand prize in Facebook’s annual Giving Challenge Event.

OCEF, a 501 (c) (3) non-profit organization, is dedicated to helping disadvantaged children in rural China to realize their dreams of completing their education and improving the education conditions of the schools in these areas.

How to do help OCEF?
1. Go to the webpage http://apps.facebook.com/causes/375784
2. Click Button “Donate”.
3. Click on “Connect with Facebook” (You can also choose “Donate without Facebook” and follow instructions)
4. Select $10.
(Very Important Reminder: the winner is selected by the total donation times. If you donate $100 per time, it is counted as one donation. If you donate $10 each day and continue for 10 days, it is counted as 10 donations. Therefore we encourage you to donate $10 each day. Note that in this event, the day start time is 3:00PM Eastern time)
5. Fill credit card information.

This donation challenge ends on Nov 6th. If OCEF could be the non-profit organization with most counts of donations on the final day, OCEF could win $50,000 prize. Also, everyday $1,000 and $500 are sent to first two daily winners. While $50 can cover the yearly tuition and fees for one student, $50,000 is huge money to support hundreds of students. Your $10 donation could give us more chances to win!