Facebook is the weirdest social media site ever! I think we can all agree on that, but what's stranger yet is how many "friends" people have on Facebook. I was checking out something on a friend's Facebook page and noticed that they had 3,287 friends and I thought to myself, "Seriously? Are they all really your 'friends'?" I have 122 friends and I think that's too many! So how many Facebook friends are you actually friends with in real life (i.e., outside of the social media universe)? How many are casual acquaintances that you haven't seen or spoken to eons? Or how many are people you met randomly one time and decided to friend each other thinking you'd be life long pals but haven't spoken to them since? Uh huh. I thought so.
While googling this phenomena, I came across the following article: "5,000 friends on Facebook? Scientists prove 150 is the most we can cope with." It's scientifically proven that you cannot possibly handle more than 150 friends. So maybe it's time to start deleting some people. Then I came across this other golden nugget article: "The 12 most annoying types of Facebookers." Even though it was written in 2009, it's still applicable today and hilariously accurate!
Now I like Facebook as much as the next person, but also I believe in keeping a little perspective on it. After making quite a number of mistakes with Facebook, I have some very specific rules and regulations that I follow, which are: (i) keeping my profile private from searches; (ii) I no longer friend people that I work with (students, teachers, principals, TFA staff or corps members, etc.); (iii) I don't friend people that I know for a half a second; (iv) I don't keep being friends with people who are cruel or creepy; (v) I do stay friends with people that I am actually friends with; and finally, I keep my postings to a minimum.
How about you? Do you have any specific social media rules that you follow? I'd be interested in hearing other opinions on this subject.
How about you? Do you have any specific social media rules that you follow? I'd be interested in hearing other opinions on this subject.
7 comments:
Great blog; I've got 149 so I can only handle one more friend lol!
LOL!!! Be very choosy for that last spot! :-)
Haha - 146, still in the good.
funny, I currently have exactly 150. often do "spring cleaning" to bring it back down.
That's hilarious!! I spring clean often too.
Well, I have more than 150 FB friends, so I might not be the best person to agree with your assessment that you can have too many "friends". I believe that the definition of the word has changed over time and what was a friend in the 1950's no longer holds true in 2010's. For example, I believe there are only three friends I can count on the drive me to the airport without complaint and conversely there are probably only two friends that I would loan money to without hesitation. Everyone else is nice to know and I attempt to be polite, but at the end of the day would they risk everything and anything to save me from the authorities (thinking back to Germany 1930's). I would like to believe there are universal truths: that you reap what you sow; that you should be kind to strangers; that you should wash your hands before leaving the restroom. But alas I witness the violation of these truths everyday. So as for my 4,562 friends on Facebook: I love you, but please don't ask me to drive you to airport.
LOL!! Nice response, Alvin.
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