I'm a big fan for Facebook for many reasons. I love that I have been able to re-connect with people I would otherwise would of lost touch with. I like that I can see little glimpses into what people are doing with their lives on a day to day basis. I enjoy a good freebie post if someone is giving away tickets to an event or there is a free special going on like a free yogurt day.You can also get lots of opinions or advice if you ask. I like to use FB for networking too because sometimes it's all about who you know when it comes to opportunities in life.
I have rules for accepting FB requests. I only connect with people I have actually met in person. I have to be able to say with confidence that if I was walking down the street and saw you I would know who you are. With that in mind I find myself caring a lot about the people I am connected with. I rejoice with them when they are happy or are sharing good news. I " like" posts constantly because if someone is posting something it's obviously important to them and people often find validation in how many likes a post gets. I also find myself being sad with people especially when they share the loss of a loved one, a pet, a job or something that is just bringing them down. It can be emotionally draining to care so much about people and their lives. I often find myself checking in with them days or weeks after their sad posts to see how they are doing. I don't mind though most of the time because I know people want to feel that others care about their situations and I honestly do. I honestly want to be vested in their lives and will help if applicable.
Now for my vents about FB. Since I am constantly liking and commenting on people's posts I find this can be a one way street. There are some people that never say one word back or never reciprocate the likes. There are people who post something then people respond to their post and the poster never acknowledges or interacts with the comments. I don't get that at all. You started a conversation but don't respond to people who join in. If I post something and someone responds I always like their comment as a way of acknowledging I read it. I also respond to comments if it warrants a response.
Now many people would just de-friend these people as obviously they don't seem to care about having any sort of relationship. I however am always torn with the de-friending. I personally do not like being de-friended and every time I am I usually find out who it was. I then will write them a private message to inquire if I did anything that caused the de-friending. Sometimes I get a response and usually some blah,blah blah type answer ( down sizing my friend list, just family etc)or more often I get no response at all. In the latter I'm actually glad they de-friended me because they can't even reply with a response as to why they did it. I guess they don't deal with communication issues in general so in those cases good riddance. I like open communication and when I feel there are issues I prefer to communicate rather than avoid.
Other ways to deal with these FB friends who never interact with you is to hide them all together so you never see their posts. You can also choose to hide your posts so they never see anything you post either. If you do both of these then I guess it's like de-friending but without actually de-friending right?
I personally can't do that either because I feel guilty hiding. I feel guiltiy de-friending. So instead I simply continue to like their posts knowing it's a one way street. I may not comment but I still will like. I friended them for a reason and I will continue to love on them even if it's a one way street. We are supposed to love the un-lovable right? De-friending is the easy way out. Staying is the harder route.
There are days when I want to just de-activate my account because like I said it gets emotionally draining to care about so many people. I never can do it though, because when I go to de-activate I find myself often focusing on all the positive interactions I have on FB and all the people who do reciprocate and really do care about my life.
