I have recently gone on a Facebook boycott. I locked down all my tagged photos and the only information you see on my profile is my status updates — which come few and far between — and things that people have posted on my wall.

I have no relationship status, because I am not a huge fan of broadcasting that to the world. What did we do before Facebook? Oh right, we talked.

Granted Facebook is a great tool to keep in touch with that friend that moved away after graduation or connect with someone you met last night. Other than that I feel like people have too much of an open view on my personal life.

This past weekend Facebook surprised me in an unlikely occasion. I was informed on Saturday night that a close friend was killed in a freak car accident.

Lots of confusion, tears and pure grieving took place in the next couple of days. I jumped on Facebook on Tuesday morning and proceeded to cruise through all the remembrance statuses regarding my friend that had passed.

Then I came upon her Facebook page. Her status had been updated with the time of her Celebration of Life Service that night, presumably by her family. Then I take a look at her wall. It was filled with “I miss you” messages, and funny uplifting stories. A smile came across my face. Her page has become a rolling remembrance blog. Close friends and acquaintances alike were posting things.

What did we do before Facebook?

Think if you passed to the better side. All those friends that you see everyday in class and complain about the professor with, all those friends you party with on the weekends but don’t have their numbers, all those people who are friends of friends; how will they know of your passing?

Maybe they don’t read the newspaper, but it is almost guaranteed they are on Facebook. Typically those are the people who find out of such an event too late and don’t get to make it back for the funeral or don’t really know if they should. Reaching out to the family might be too much or uncomfortable for them. Facebook provides people with a way to say their last goodbye and share or read other happy stories about you. It allows your grieving family to hear from those people who cared about you that they might not have even known about.

So this is to you Facebook, you have been on my s–t list as of late, but you just took a big step in the right direction, even if it was inadvertently. Keep your friends close, and family closer and take a page from my late friend’s book: Live it up.