Facebook and Friendships
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The website www.facebook.com is really a social phenomenon. It allows you to have all sorts of conversations, from the banal to the erudite. Yesterday I was engaged in an exchange with one of my Facebook friends on my Facebook wall. I would summarize the conversation as intellectually stimulating. Later in the evening a relative called me and enquired as to whether or not I knew who the person was; to be honest at that time no, I did not remember him. We took a postprandial stroll down memory lane and needless to say I found out who he was. My relative went on to say in her causal manner “Brenda you accept anyone as your friend on Facebook.” She meant people I did not know. I must admit I can be all-inclusive and all-embracing, especially online. After all Facebook is a social network. If I had known who he was my responses to him would have probably taken a different tone, so I am glad that I did not know. At the end of the day I operate under the principle – if you read anything that I wrote I hope you are better off for having read it or I hope that it stimulated you in some way.
There are so many people whom we often see and are in the same social circle as them but we do not really know them. Really, think about it, how many of us have friends, family (outside of Facebook etc.) or people we periodically meet with to dine, interact, socialize and become better acquainted with and we know so little about them. Sometimes we befriend people on Facebook because we know them from childhood or from one place or another but we are not really that well acquainted with each other. I think about all of the people who I am acquainted with and I still do not know very much about their personal lives. We are so adept at practising supercilious conversations and exchanging pleasantries. I must admit I am guilty.
Do not misunderstand me. We do not have to get to know everyone intimately be it on Facebook or those whom we see from time to time in person. To me, to engage in banter from time is often pleasant and enjoyable and truth be told we do not want all of our associations to be overly pedantic. Besides that prodigious gossip is a reality so we cannot tell everyone everything nor can we expect to be told everything. On the other hand there will be times when we can and do share our life experience. Just so that we can expatiate our knowledge of academics, music, entertainment, food on online chats.
Facebook in my opinion is a network for affable people. Why you are there, if you are? How well do you know the people in your circle of friends and acquaintances? What books do they read? What are their likes and dislikes? How well do they know you?
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