Don't dis me cause I got 'Friends'

Facebook "friends" - bringing a whole new 20th century meaning to "faking it"!

Actually I don't think it's like this at all. This blog post parallels that written by Rachael. The problem stems from Facebook itself having chosen such a simplified singular wording - friends - to represent this folder in which are stored all of your contacts. These contacts could have been added for any number of reasons as people's purposes for using Facebook differ, and the nature of their contacts differs likewise.

Rather significantly I feel, 'Friends' on Facebook are more fluid than friends in 'real life'. Those who you choose to associate regularly with can change depending on your current situation - what part of the world you are living, what career change you just made, right down to what lectures you are actually attending! At the same time, circumstances can just as much bring past friends back together. Facebook and social networking sites facilitate this fluidity extremely well.

Secondly, once a contact has been added, it is highly unlikely that you would ever delete them. Therefore, those who were close contacts whom for whatever reason are no longer so, are likely to remain in your "contacts" list forever. It is only inevitable that over time, people's "Friends" are going to grow so as to be a misrepresentation of their actual status. Unless, Facebook limited the number of 'Friends' significantly from the current 5000 limit then people will not need to adjust their friends list accordingly.

However, care should be taken not to dis those who have a large number of Facebook 'friends'. The reality is that, just because one has added a contact in Facebook which inevitably will be added to a folder called "Friends" does not mean that this Facebook determined term is suitable for all of ones contacts. Additionally, it means that the 150 friends study IS compatible with somebody who has a total number of contacts far in excess of that as the fluid nature of friendships in modern society becomes a significant factor.

angry sounding questions about facebook

I don't have facebook.
*GASP!*
I know, I know, I'm pretty radical
.....just kidding.
the thing is, with social networking sites, I've signed up to far too many in the past... Hi5, bebo, myspace, facebook(of course), and all those other annoying ones that i can't remember the names of that occasioanlly still send me annoying emails about random people wanting to 'friend' me.
*shudder*
(i can't delete them, i dont remember my passwords =( )

When people ask me why I no longer use facebook I used to mumble something about how i dont like social networking sites.
But now, I respond "BECAUSE IT'S PART OF A CONSPIRACY THAT WILL ULTIMATELY LEAD TO WORLD DOMINATION"
of course, it is all in jest....

BUT

Facebook has taken over huge chunks of people's lives.

When did everyone start relying on facebook so much?
When did it start dominating so much of the time we spend on the internet?
Why does so much of so many people's lives happen in the realm that is facebook?
Why is it that people feel the need to check facebook so much when they're at uni?
Aren't they in a place where they can interact socially?
Aren't their friends nearby, IN THE FLESH?!

I've heard this line countless times: "Oh right, yea, you don't know about it 'cause you don't have facebook."
What happened to the good old days when gossip was passed by word of mouth and people gave out cute little enveloped invitations to events?
Why is it that everytime two people get together they have to "make it official" on facebook?
And why do people freak out if they're not included in the guest list on facebook for an event? As if that's the official invite as opposed to your friend asking you if you wanna go to that party.

Why is it that everytime you meet someone new you go home and add them on facebook as a 'friend'?
this leads me to my next point.
Are all your facebook friends really your friends?
Do all the people who boast 500 or 600 'friends' on facebook really have close ties with ALL these people?
of course not.
Is it really that important to have that many facebook friends?
Have these people heard of Dunbar's number? it's 150 meaningful relationships. It's impossible to have more. One does not need more. Once cannot maintain 150 easily, let alone 600.
It's impossible that they are actually good friends with 600 people. It is impossible that they even talk regularly to HALF of these people.
What happened to quality over quantity?

Sometimes people make it sound like i miss out on a lot becasue i dont use facebook. But that's not true.
My friends tell me to get facebook again.
but even they can't think of a good reason why i should.

_

I guess no-one told her about the Dunbar number?

According to MSNBC's technolog, Karen Beth Young, an American woman, is currently suing Facebook after they disabled her account. She claims they did this because she started a petition page to increase the current 5000 'friend' limit. Clearly, no-one thought to tell this woman she is only capable of maintaining 150 meaningful relationships. But, do facebook friends really qualify as meaningful relationships? I went through my 203 facebook friends and counting only the ones I would say hello to if I saw them in the street, found only 44 of them made the cut. Maybe I'm just antisocial but the thought of trying to maintain 5000, or even 1000 friends is impossible, and a little frightening.

The thing is, these people aren't conventional friends. Social networking sites blur the real life barriers you put between your interactions with genuine friends, acquaintances, that guy you met once at a bar and Mahoumed Jahar(no mutual friends). Despite the insistence of facebook, all of these people are not your 'friends.' South Park had it right when they criticised the emerging 'friending' culture. Yes, I too was obligated into adding my nana as a friend. At least twitter is honest, because really a lot of them are 'followers.' They might occasionally browse your page to keep up to date with where you are and who you're with (stalkers, much?), but they're also likely to avert your eye in the street to avoid the awkward 'I know who you are but don't want to greet you' smile.

Putting the friend issue aside, the greatest thing about this story is that apparently Karen Beth Young drove from her home in Maryland to Facebook headquarters (about 3700km) to demand her account be reinstated. Now that's dedication.

facebook - a mirror reflecting yourself?

Facebook has become a necessity and practically everyone in the modern world is on facebook. It isn't a casual move but has become a symbol of being 'cool' and modern. Facebook is no longer a tool for communication but has become a platform where people can portray to the entire world, what they are or what they 'intend' to be.

For example, people having many friends on facebook are thought as being highly social and that they would make a good friend to you and then you add them as well. But who knows whether such people know everyone on their facebook friend list or have they randomly added people to increase their friend list? On the other hand, people who do not have good profile pictures and have less friends on facebook are thought to be reserved and backward. Isn't facebook really deceptive? How can you judge a person by looking at their profiles?

Newspaper reports also mention that too many employers these days stalk their employees on facebook, gather their personal information and fire them from their job the very next day. Click here for the article. This, however, is a bad tool to judge an individual's style of working or behavior because who knows whether or not are you a part of their open profile or their 'limited profile'? Basing judgements on partial truth or many a times on just a 'portrayed image' may deprive the deserving candidate from a good job experience. Too many workers have lost their jobs because of such stalking being done by employees.

People should remember that one should not judge a book by its cover as what may seem to be the truth may not actually be the truth. Befriending random people by looking at there attractive profiles can prove to be extremely unsafe since such people are very quick at hacking passwards and messing up with your profile. An attractive profile, good pictures and certainly many mutual friends are not a guarantee of you knowing that person. Its better to be non judgemental than juding people through such social networking sites, both for personal and professional use.