 | Relationship BuilderWho Are Your Friends?Posted Monday, April 27th, 2009 and visited 599 times, 1 so far today by MInTheGap |
We live in an interesting age. I don’t know how many times friends from my high school want to e-mail or contact me—if only I’ll pay cash to talk to them, or at least that’s what Classmates.com wants me to believe.
We used to be able to move on from place to place, keeping in contact with the people in our lives that really mattered, and letting the acquaintances and others move on with their lives and grow into fond memories.
Not today. In the rush for the latest status symbol, if someone finds your name on a list of available people they’ll rush to add you to it. They wear the number of “friends” or “followers” that they have like previous generations would collect beanie babies.
For me, the amusing part is that they let all these people in to look at their lives, and those insights usually provide quite the amusement in themselves. Once added, twice forgotten, I believe.
But this trend has also sparked a lot of weird interactions inside families and “in real life” friends. The online engagement has replaced face to face meetings to the point that you can truly be alone, and yet feel really connected with a person. You can be living miles away and yet know what you’re friend is having for breakfast, and that they’re having a root canal before lunch.
It’s nice and strange all at the same time.
And then there’s the question of whether you should “friend” your family. Kids used to go to college and have a time of growing—a time of being disconnected from parents during the day-to-day activities of life.
Now, mom and dad can follow your adventures and know what you’re up to. I know some college students would probably be opposed to this, but would that be out of guilt or shame?
Modern Media Mom came up with a handy list of Do’s and Don’ts of connecting with your kids on Facebook, but it seems odd to me that you wouldn’t want to stay a part of your kids life, or that they’d want to stay a part of yours—and what happens if they un-friend you.
I guess there’d need to be some kind of virtual room that you could send them to—as long as that virtual room didn’t have an internet connection. :)
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April 28th, 2009 at 10:59 am
I just today told my extended family about my blogging. Not sure why it was hard to do before now…mostly for me it was not wanting them to think my various blogging subjects were pointed at them, and also, that anonymity is nice when you’re sharing so much about yourself. Crazy that it’s easier to share these things with the world at large than one’s own in-laws! ;)
Hope I’m not “un-friended” as a result! Lol
April 28th, 2009 at 11:06 am
I think it’s because it’s one thing to talk to people that don’t “know us” because we can talk about a variety of topics– it allows us freedom where we’re sometimes guarded with people we know, only showing them the parts of us we want them to see.
It’s definitely a tightrope with people in person. I know that many people I know personally know that I blog, but not many read/follow what I write.
May 17th, 2009 at 12:40 pm
I’ve been living that type of life for many years now. The strangest thing is when two people that get along great online don’t have the same chemistry when they meet face to face. Especially if that’s male and female. I’m sure some of us have been there. But yeah, it’s a “best of both worlds” kinda deal when you can twitter away with 100s of people while sitting at your computer in underwear. ;-)