Now I'm not a huge Facebook fan, but I can definitely appreciate its appeal. Dr. Laura--whose views I detest yet I have this inane compulsion to listen to daily--regularly admonishes her listeners for allowing their kids to participate in social media. She insists that Facebook and the like create a culture of people who have no idea how to interact with others in the "real" (non-virtual) world. I'm not so sure about that. In fact, Facebook has given me the opportunity to reconnect face to face with friends that I literally haven't seen since the single-digit years. But I have to address one troubling FB phenomenon: Defriending.
I'll log in to my account one day and I'll have 714 friends, the next 711. No, I don't know 714 people--don't ask. I'll glance at the sidebar on my homepage to the "People You May Know" section only to see friends suggested that I thought I had formerly "friended." After a curious click, my suspicions are confirmed. I have been defriended The agony!
I suppose if something horrible has happened between me and a person (in "real" life), I can understand his/her reasons for inflicting this humiliation upon me. I can also see the appeal for the passive aggressives out there (myself included)--there's nothing easier than giving the silent treatment online. Just block 'em! I don't know that I've ever been blocked--now there's humiliation--but I've now been defriended countless times.
My question is: do people delete acquaintances just to fine-tune their "friend list"? I'm guessing (hoping) so. Maybe I'm the victim of nothing more than a cursory cleanup. Maybe these are the people who keep impeccable email inboxes, clean desktops, and tidy one-note files. But meanwhile, I have to ask, "Was it something I posted?" Next time, IM me. We'll talk it out!
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