I'm sorry, I don't get it! If you want family and friends to keep up to date on your life, why not just call them? Or visit them in person? You know, get in the car, knock on their door, sit down, share a cup of tea, etc. That stuff is all too impersonal.
Because families are far flung? Because you can't send them photos over the phone? Because you can't contact all of them quickly and share so much easily? Remember, you can share as little or as much as you choose - I've got a younger brother on Facebook who won't let any of us see his pages (he's distancing himself, long family saga). No one can see my pages unless I allow them as a friend. It's not as strange as you think once you actually see it in action, then you decide how much or how little you want to use it.
I still see my mother several times a week, my sister, my neices and nephews - but we all can share photos amongst ourselves and generally yuck it up over them. That's all it is for me.
Scoop, do you come from a very small family who all live in close proximity?
For some of us we use a blog/facebook and other socail networking tools to not only create a written record of what we do daily but also to keep in touch with extended family. I only have my mother and my sister as my closest family (beyond husband and kids) but I have 6 aunts and Uncles, 27 cousins that I am close to. We all do not live in the same area of the country. Some are stationed on military bases around the world. Posting photos and stories of what we are doing gives them an intimate looks at our lives and also drives more conversation that a single 10 min phone call once every couple of months. There is no family within 600 miles driving distance of me. So getting in the car and having a cup of tea is not an option for me.