I have bunches of friends from my high school days who are "friends" with me on facebook. Bunches more have figured out that I'm a fundamentalist prig and unfriended me (seriously). They haven't really changed much. Not really. I went and changed, not them.
But it does jar me a bit to see people thinking a young lady being denied the "right" to bring her lesbian girlfriend to the prom is some form of PERSECUTION that requires a status update. I kinda thought that persecution would be more along the lines of being thrown to the lions in the arena or being told that all Tea Partiers are racist because some guy yelled a racial insult at some other guy last spring. Stuff like that.
I've been burned in the comments section before, so I'm not eeeven about to put forth the rational argument that these teens aren't even supposed to even know what a lesbian IS until they go to college and see man-hating "womyn" yelling about some "social issue" or whatever in the college courtyard. By the way, I happen to know that many of these people live in cardboard boxes for a WHOLE DAY in November so that they can fully understand and appreciate the plight of the homeless (and they're "raising awareness in the community," too, because their friends come to visit their boxes and bring Starbucks). Yes, I went to college. I know these things.
So some of my friends from way back will celebrate the healthcare bill passing, or the abomination of desolation that was revealed recently at the temple in Jerusalem or whathaveyou. You can almost tell how long ago I "met" someone by reading their statuses because right nearby, I'll see the statuses of some of my more recently-made Christian friends and their verses of the day. They feature cute kittens, bubbles, and "God loves you" type theology. Never will I see, say, a discussion of what Paul meant by the "baptism of the dead," or a heated debate about glossolalia and the discernment of spirits. Nope.
Mixed in with all of this are my CONSTANT YoVille updates. I love YoVille. But to get extra energy, free gifts and everything else, I have to publish inane posts about 20 times a day in the hopes that someone else will click on the links and "give" me stuff. Anyone looking at my statuses after I'm dead would think that all I did in life was play YoVille and mooch presents and "energy" from my friends, and generally pester everyone for stuff. Hey... when I'm gone, I'm guessing one of my children will inherit the Moroccan palace. Another will get the yacht. They'll fight over who has to walk away with the hillbilly trailer.
Did I mention I have friends I "met" walking around in YoVille who have become my facebook friends? We visit each other's houses all the time.
And Facebook helps you satisfy those wonderings of, "I wonder what happened to so-and-so," and sometimes you wish you could have just remembered some people as they were at 16, but you never know until you "reconnect" with them. And sometimes you get great surprises. I "friended" an old boyfriend, got to see his family in the photo album and chat with him a bit. I discovered that he likes coffee as featured on Oprah. Um, don't click the link unless you are ready to see something verrry interesting.
One thing I've noticed from looking at G's facebook account is that there is a lot of DRAMA going on for the world to see in the teen set. I could imagine myself being grounded and forced to "put on a shirt" if I posted some of the stuff I've seen on his account when I was 13.
As a public service, I must inform you that it's "faggot," not "faget." If you must go around insulting people and embarrassing yourself in front of your 357 friends, at least spell it correctly. Thanks.
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Look Out, Dad!!
My father is the purple dot above the blue weather station. He's juuust outside Milton's evacuation zone. Well! My brother and I jus...
Ah, the wonderful world of facebook! Unfortunately the people I have regretted "friending" most are family members. Sigh. Well, I regretted it at first, but I've kind of gotten used to seeing my young relatives drunk and wearing too little clothes. That's probably not a good thing, but there it is.
ReplyDeleteI have not actually tried to "unfriend" anyone yet. The ones I thought twice about before approving them in the first place have actually been pretty tame. Once in a while I resist commenting on some comment or link, because I don't want it showing up on my wall. I admit it. I'm not a lover of controversy.
There have been a couple that have been eye opening. Many of my English speaking friends over here come from the missionary community. In a group of these friends spiritual matters are pretty much left at the very basic level at which we can all agree. This is a matter of practicality, seeing as everyone comes from different denominations which teach a variety of things. It has been quite interesting clicking on links and reading missionary update newsletters that reveal that some people I never suspected are really into the prosperity gospel, for example, or other "interesting" theologies ("interesting" to me, anyway). I seem to learn something new every day!
I have a FB account. I think I have all of 8 friends. My husband loves Mafia Wars and uses my account. I use it to check up on the kids. My grown girls are plenty old enough to know better but I still give them grief if I find inappropriate things. So far so good.
ReplyDeleteI had a MySpace account and I really enjoyed that. I learned a lot and stayed away from all the drama. It's to time consuming for me.
I get ya on the old schoolmates. It's crazy how ages go up but maturity and wisdom go nowhere.
I have had to unfriend or hide people (relatives and old "friends") so their statuses don't show up on my wall because they are not even thinking about being saved and curse like sailors. My kids friends visit my facebook and I can't be responsible for displaying that type of foolishness.
ReplyDeleteI understand where you are coming from. HUGS !
ReplyDeleteBut don't find me on facebook. ;-) I like us being friends, and blogger will be the best place to continue that. LOL
I've unfriended people--like the "christian" guy who lost tons of weight and then left his wife for someone he met online. Or the Queen Bee girl from high school. I've also had to block people like the guy we introduced to my best friend--learned two lessons there. I do find it time consuming and sort of draining. I kind of want to quit the whole thing, but I don't want to hurt the feelings of the 6 girls I haven't seen in 20 year, but who talk to me all the time on FB. And it is a good way to share photos and keep in touch with relatives overseas. A few of my wilder nieces have unfriended me and I have to limit my religious postings as not to offend my used to be a Christian/married to a Jewish woman/now hates the church/liberal democrat/father of an athiest son/homosexuals should be allowed to marry/universal health care loving brother. It's so complicated! I liked it better when we all weren't so "in-touch."
ReplyDelete"Never will I see, say, a discussion of what Paul meant by the "baptism of the dead," or a heated debate about glossolalia and the discernment of spirits. Nope."
ReplyDeleteAny time you are ready, my FB wall is available.
:-P
Haha! You are sooo funny. I knew I friended you for a reason. Actually, family gets on my nerves more than anything. I LOVE finding all my own friends even if nothing has changed and they are still shallow. I only talk to them on there and I only friended them out of pure curiousity about how they are doing.
ReplyDelete