Why do you Facebook?
I’m reading all this buzz on these most recent blog posts about the value of unfriending on Facebook. I can’t lie, it’s something I have often considered but never gotten around to doing. The only people I have ever unfriended so far have either annoyed me or embarrassed me. So what does “friending” really mean on Facebook? Certainly it does not necessarily mean that the two parties are close in real life. Ryan Cordell addresses this in his article, Unfriending for Sanity. I’ve been considering this myself, and I think that Facebook has so many different purposes for different people.
For some, Facebook is a competition: who can garner the most Facebook friends? For others, Facebook is a catalyst for social games like Farmville or Restaurant City. For some, “Facebook creeping” has become a common pastime. Facebook can even be a distraction, a marketing tool, or any number of other things. For me, at least in theory, Facebook is for keeping in contact with friends and acquaintances that I might not normally be able to stay in touch with. It is an easy way to catch up without being too awkward or time consuming. Well, if Facebook serves a different purpose for different people, doesn’t it follow that “Facebook friends” mean different things to different people too?
All I know is that when I look at my friends list, I see more people than I really care to keep in contact with.
