When I finally gave in to the Facebook Revolution and joined, I became obsessed. I had to track down EVERYONE that I knew. I wanted to know where everyone was, what they were doing, how they got there, etc. I became a stalker. What? So did you so shut up.
I tracked down the best friend turned boyfriend turned ex-boyfriend but still friend that came out of the closet to see how his life was.
I tracked down the old friends I met on my 1200 & 2400 baud modem when I first moved to Salt Lake City at 13. (Geek to the core, baby.) I even had a reunion, of sorts, with those whose spouses let them attend. Included in this batch of friends was my first "love", Dave. Apparently his wife that I've never seen dislikes me and forbid Dave to come to the little get together. Good to know I've still got some prowess. Meow.
High school friends - check.
Old Party friends - check.
Jr. High Friends - check.
Old boyfriends - check. I even managed to find out a bit about the ex-fiance that isn't allowed access to the internet for various crimes he committed by tracking down who he married and reading her info. (Scared of me yet?)
I apologized to people I had wronged over the years. Tearful emails sent out after a glass or three of wine. (Ay yi yi.) Most were well received. Well, I mean, the 3 I sent out seemed well received.
There was a friendship that just ceased to exist a few years ago. I'd always wondered what happened and if I'd done something wrong. Found that answer through facebook email and realized the person was shallow and never really a friend anyway. Lesson learned.
I forgave people. I was forgiven. I forged new friendships and rekindled old ones. *sniff sniff* It's like a story on Lifetime, isn't it? Except I'm not going to get beaten or killed, promise.
At one point I posted about having close to 400 "friends" on Facebook. I didn't think I even KNEW 400 people. I sure as hell don't LIKE 400 people! HA! So I purged. And then I did another purge. And still I purged again - without remorse (or wine, I might add, since I'm all knocked up and stuff). Now I'm down to a much more manageable 175 and I STILL don't think I know or like all the people on my list. Some are there out of obligation.
I don't play Facebook games. I don't farm or mafia or hug or poke or flair or anything else.
So, tell me, why do these people I don't know keep requesting for me to be their friend?!
They're hoarders. FB Friend Hoarders. They just want to accumulate as many friends as they can.
Listen, that's sad. Someone has to tell you - it's just sad. No one is measuring popularity by the amount of friends you have on FB. And if they are? They're just like you, hoarders with a "please like me" complex. It's time to let it go, man. Move on. Forget it. Exorcise your Facebook demons.
Wednesday, August 18, 2010
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15 comments:
I call those people facebookemons... (gotta catch em all!)I sometimes look to see how the person sending the friend request can share 22 mutual friends with me and I still. Don't. Know. Who. They. Are!
I just filmed a vlog post about that stupid virtual stuff. (I will post it as soon as I can figure out how to have my face stop freezing in a stupid place in the beginning...)
You've just inspired me to go click "ignore" a whole buncha times! Thanks!
:)
Thank you for being a friend... bloggy friend, facebook friend, whichever. You brighten my day. ;)
Whew!! I'm glad I made the cut, and we're still FB friends.
.......wait, we're still FB friends, right??
I was going through the friend finder about a month ago, which basically lets you add people in your email contacts that have FB accounts. I got so tired of picking and choosing, I just sent it to EVERYONE in there. And ya, I don't know like 1/2 of them.
And I realized after that some of them are people that I've dealt with through Craigslist. Oy.
I wanted to delete a person SOOO badly today, but it would have been obvious. So I didn't. I might tomorrow though! lol
I'm thinking about doing a purge soon too. It's just sad if people realize you've purged them. I realized that a blog friend (kind of a good one too!) deleted me awhile back, and it was kind of sad. I emailed her to see if I'd offended her or something. She added me again, but I'm pretty sure it was out of obligation. lol
I am not adding people just b/c they ask. I used to think the "list" was all important, but people I didn't like in school are people I wouldn't be friends with today. I hold my spots for family, tried and true friends and hand picked co-workers only. Our workplace is adding social media rules to our handbook, so I am uber cautious now.
Thank you for reinforcing my thoughts on non-guilty FB purging.
I always wondered that too.
We call them friend collectors - like you said its kind of sad! We all know you don't know those 10,000 people you are "friends" with...and it doesn't make you look cool to pretend that you do!
I have to admit it...I am a Facebook Whore! Do they have a 12-Step program for that?
I just purged my FB friends too (but I was sucked into a game for awhile). I get requests all the time from people I have no idea who they are. Really? I don't know you so go away. Not sure why they don't have a button for that so people know (if you want them to know) that you have declined their request and why!
All I want to say is Im offended Im not a FB friend
LOL!!
Seriously though, FB is the way I communicate with most of my friends and family.
I TOTALLY GET IT! I have lots of obligatory friends/family as well. A lot I've met through my blog and we talk more than my family and I do! ;) And lots of board friends, some I am not on boards anymore with. But most of them are my church family/youth dept. And they talk CONSTANTLY! OYE!
Others are clients, and I'm learning to HIDE a lot too.
I'm sick of hearing about their farm/sorority/fish tank/ etc or who they like. UGH! So I hide a LOT of people because I can't keep up!
I don't get the people who think they need a ton of friends on facebook to feel special! Who cares! I think it is a nice way to keep up with people you don't see often, but really who needs 1000 random people reading about their boring life!!
I don't play any of the fb games, either. I have managed to accumulate a number of "friends", though. Some are friends of friends who are friends with other friends....eeek. I believe I need to purge my list, too!
Great post, Heidi!
Should I hide my face while admitting there are probably more people in my friend list I don't personally know than do? {Standing up} "Hello, My name is Heidi. I am a Mafia Wars addict." {Hi Heidi!}
Many of my Facebook friends are strictly for Mafia Wars and I keep them on a separate list and don't ever read their "news feeds". The people I actually know are on a friend list of my choosing and clicking on it is the first thing I do when I log on.
I blame my husband who begged me to join his mafia last year "just to help him out of a jam".
Ha. I want to purge too. I have a lot of blogger friends on there which are fine, but so many requested me out of other ministry pages that I had "befriended" ... kind of crazy. Next thing I know -- I have way TOO many "friends" on there.
New thing! Did you change your "place tagging" status? If people see you in a restaurant, they can tag you as being there -- with GPS to point you out. See my fb profile to find out how to change that!
Love,
b
Wow, glad I made the Facebook list. :)
I find Facebook kind of interesting. I've got a couple hundred friends and most of them are not active. We're kind of old folk, so this new technology stuff is kind of challenging.
But I've got some friends from various schools that I find I chat with frequently. One guy that I went to kindergarten through high school with posts some pretty interesting and provocative things and I comment and chat about his stuff. I found myself commenting the other day on a post of his, and the other comment were from guys I went to kindergarten with too. Kind of weird.
I don't friend or accept requests from people I don't know.
I have the same feeling but just don't want to offend anyone. I just paired my list down from 190 to 175. I could seriously axe another 75 off the list but just feel bad. Ah, at least you kept me!
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