Saturday, July 3, 2010

Facebook and Friends

Something happened yesterday on Facebook that I am sure has happened to all of us. I had one less friend than I had the day before. I quickly went through my friends list. After a good five minute search, I realized who was missing. My ex's step-dad de-friended me.

Step-dad?!? You may be asking, "Why on earth would that matter?" But my gut instinct was to get upset and figure out why this had happened. Why was this so important to me?

After giving it some thought, I realized that it frankly doesn't matter. It's just another step in the process of life. But there was something else, something deeper in this meaning. It showed me that some people are in our lives, and in this case our Facebook lives, for one reason or another. My ex's step-dad was in my life only by association. He wasn't in my life because we were friends that would talk about cars, politics or life. We were two acquaintances who shared one common person.

Ex's aside, this does bring up an interesting thing about Facebook. Facebook, though important in keeping people up-to-date on all the happenings, has created a veil of anonymity. You no longer have to tell people to their faces you don't want to be friends or that there is something wrong with one or the other. Now, you just have to click two buttons. Two buttons. Seems a whole lot easier than ignoring or blocking or just telling them it is time to part ways.

I am not saying that you need to let someone know you are going to remove them as friends. There have been people I have added, never talked to and then removed without a simple hello or good-bye. My point is that you shouldn't get worked up over someone taking you off of his or her list. If it is someone important, pick up the phone and call. Find out what is wrong, or what their problem is.

Bottom line: Facebook is a great social tool that should be used as one of many tools to keep in touch with family and friends. And as far as ex's step-dad's go, best wishes!

3 comments:

  1. Hi Chris I hope CO. finds you well.
    I am writing this in response to your comment about us not being friends and our only acquaintances based on one person. I seem to have a different memory since you were a guest in my home more times than I can remember and had as many conversations about cars, politics, life, food etc.
    As far as anonymity, I have no problem telling you to your face why this happened. My question to you is, are you sure you want to go down that path? I would take heed my (friend). I feel in this case anonymity would be your best (friend).
    My family cared about you as an individual, not the man dating my son. Based on your choices, my family has decided you need to be re-classified to, un-friended.

    Sincerely,
    SGF

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  2. Thank you for the post. I debated on whether or not to write this, knowing what kind of response I could get. It was something that was bothering me, so I decided to take that leap and do it. My apologies if I upset you with this post. I didn't mean any disrespect. As for my choices, I have fully acknowledged them and I am dealing with the consequences. They were only half of the problem, but I assume my choices are the only ones known at this point.

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