What began five years ago as a way for school alumni to keep in touch now is an Internet social networking site for all ages.

Co-workers can communicate, students can commiserate and even Grandma and Grandpa immediately can see the pictures from Christmas morning, depending on how fast Mom and Dad can get them downloaded and posted on Facebook.

“I can keep up with all of my cousins who live in Seattle; California; Oklahoma; Mobile, Ala., and Florida,” said self-confessed Facebook addict Kathy Kirby of LaGrange, a music teacher in the Troup County school system. “I see their kids grow up and they see mine, something that would only be possible in Christmas cards each year prior to Facebook.”

Facebook, a free Internet site found at www.facebook.com, allows users to “friend” people they know through various networks: schools, groups and communities. Each user also can post a “status” update, which could be anything from something inspirational to whatever’s going on at the moment. Facebook friends can comment on each other’s statuses, which makes for some interesting “virtual conversations.”

“Your ‘status’ can speak volumes - positive or negative - however you choose to do it,” said Katie Firth, 27, a LaGrange stay-at-home mom who’s used the site for about eight months. “I have gotten comments on my status from people that I never talk to. It has been a cool thing for me because I try to display comments that relate to my faith.

“When my grandfather was dying, I was posting things about even through the toughest of times in your life God is faithful and he works all things together for good. I don’t remember exactly what I had posted, but I got a comment from my old youth pastor from when I was in high school and at a different church. It was really cool to hear him lifting me up in a time that was really bad.”

Kirby, 37, also gets a “lift” from reading others’ status messages.

“I could read those for hours,” she said. “And when I’m sick or sad, I get a long list of ‘pick-me-ups’ that normally I would never get. I’m normally not calling people when I’m sick.”

Some groups and organizations use it as a way to advertise events. The La-Grange College “book brigade,” moving volume into the new library, may have roots back into the 1940s, but word of the move into the facility this month first was put out on Facebook.

The Lafayette Society for Performing Arts also has started advertising events on the site.

“At my first meeting when I joined the board, one of the topics on the agenda was bringing in a larger and more diverse audience, especially reaching out to the younger generation,” said Susan Braik, a Troup High School graduate and recent college graduate in her mid-20s. “As the youngest member on the board, I figured I could have some insight on how to reach people my age and younger to get them excited about the arts.”

A feature on Facebook called “events” allows users to post information and pictures on upcoming activities, and even lets those who receive an invitation to RSVP. A reminder will show up on the user’s home screen a few days before the event.

“I know that most of my friends and I communicate as much through Facebook as we do on our cell phones, and I doubted that the rest of the board had utilized the advertising possibilities with Facebook,” Braik said.

The first event she sent out “invitations” for “Wait Until Dark,” the company’s fall 2008 production.

“I was pleasantly surprised at how many people I invited to ‘Wait Until Dark’ actually came to the play,” she said. “Even other members of the board mentioned how many new and younger faces they saw at the shows.

“I’m trying to get some of the other board members to create a Facebook account so that they can continue inviting people to events this way when I leave for dental school in the fall. It’s been great to let more people in the community know about events and even better that the advertising is free.”

Through Facebook, not only does Braik have a number of former classmates as friends, but she’s been able to contact her “future” classmates, those she’ll be going to school with this fall in California.

“I was able to connect with a friend from high school and a couple from college who are in the area where I will be relocating, so it’ll be nice to have friendly faces out there,” she said. “In addition, I’ve joined a group on Facebook for my dental school class and have ‘met’ over half of my future classmates. It’s really great, because one of them is from the Atlanta area and another is from Greenville, S.C., where I went to college. We’ve talked about the logistics of moving across the country, how we’re looking for apartments from 3,000 miles away, etc. It’s not as scary moving that far away knowing that I will have friends there before I set foot on campus.”

The “group” feature has been fortuitous for another LaGrange woman in keeping up with former co-workers. Pam Pruett, a former Kleen-Tex employee and resident of LaGrange for more than 20 years, had been having a weekly lunch with others from the company, calling themselves the “Old Timers’ Club.” There’s now a “KTI Old Timers’ Club” on Facebook where employees from around the world can join.

“It has been an awesome way to keep up with our KTI friendships as most of us served 10 to 15 years working together,” Pruett said. “And, of course, we still have lunch just about each Friday.”

Facebook allows teachers to keep up with their students and business owners to attract more customers.

“I have been very anti-Facebook or MySpace (another social networking site) until I got one for the shop and now I really see the benefit,” said Amy Warren, a LaGrange resident and owner of An Affair to Remember bridal boutique.

Warren initially started a Facebook page to market the shop to young brides getting married, but admits to using it as much for keeping up with friends and family as for her business.

“It’s very addictive,” she said.

Jennifer Shrader can be reached at jshrader@ lagrangenews.com or (706) 884-7311, Ext. 236.