Facebook has lately been under assault -- for very good reasons -- about its ever-changing privacy defaults and rather calloused attitudes toward its users. But I don't think I'll quit anytime soon. Why? In the last five minutes, I:

*Watched videos of the talented son of a writer I've met exactly once, but read intensely and feel as if I know. Besides, he was singing show tunes.
* Seen a photograph of another writer friend's grandsons.
*Laughed out loud as another writer confesses that she's learned her daughter is putting out cheese for the house mouse.
*Wished a happy birthday to a college friend, riding the coattails of another college friend, whose Facebook photo happens to be her gorgeous son.
*Read a provocative piece by Garrison Keillor.
*Learned that one friend is about to do his first-ever signing in NYC and another is beginning her next novel.
*Found cheerful updates from friends in London, Minneapolis and New York.

The argument is that everything on the computer is lesser when compared to real life. And I get it, but -- I wouldn't have had any of the above experiences without the computer. I don't know. It felt like a great use of five minutes. Am I wrong? Enlighten me.