Warning - This one is a bit of a rant. Social networking tools create contacts. That's what they were designed to do. It's in their job descriptions and they do exactly what it says on their can. Problem is, just how many people can I connect with who are actually people I know? Do I need to have any kind of connection with my Facebook 'friends' beyond the fact that we are linked on the site? When does it become a problem that you are sharing your photographs and your innermost thoughts with friends of friends of friends (I mean total strangers). Just where do you draw the line? It's just possible that the guy who cut you up on the way home yesterday (you know, the one you exchanged angry words with from the safety of your own driving seats) is the same one you are having a poke exchange with tonight on Facebook. The woman you looked daggers at this morning at the superstore when your trolleys clashed could be the same one who sends you a pomegranate tree this evening on Farmville. You just don't know for sure, because a lot of your Facebook friends aren't really friends at all - they are actually strangers. And if you did meet them in the street, they wouldn't have 'Facebook user' stamped on their foreheads that's for sure. Some are just people you have casually clicked 'yes' to on a friend request, without checking out who they are because you didn't have the time ... at the time. They may have requested friendship status with you simply because you have been auto-suggested by Facebook or because they have a causal acquaintance (i.e. a Facebook link) with one of the people you also have a Facebook link with. And you are now eternally linked, because you can't bring yourself to unfriend them, or you simply forget to do so. And then others with even more tenuous links request friendship. And on it goes....
What does it really mean to have 4000 friends on Facebook? Well, fortunately, unlike Jesus, you won't have to feed them all. Most of them won't be invited to your daughter's wedding and they won't be on your Christmas card list either. They might come in handy if you wanted to besiege Carthage or recreate the T-Mobile Flashmob dance provided they were all living in spitting distance. But with 4000 Facebook friends you might have to face a shed load of requests to join the 'Prevent Ferret Strangling in Equador' Campaign or 'I love Robert Pattinson but I think Twilight sucks' Fan Club. It's no joke. I have well over 100 requests waiting for me on Facebook as I write this. It thrills me, it really does, going through each one, and being told accusingly: 'You have ignored a request from Mother Theresa to prevent Baby Seal Culling in Nova Scotia'. I guess it's fine if you want to feel popular, but ultimately, I think it's all just a big fake having so many 'friends' on your social networking site. I closed down my Bebo, Plurk and MySpace accounts in 2009 because I was being overloaded by so many friend requests and spurious linking to things I couldn't be asked to spend time on. Call me an old humbug if you like, but I'm through with poking, vampire battles and food fights. It's for these reasons I may take the plunge and also close down my Facebook account in 2010. Any reason why I shouldn't?
A happy new year to you all!
Image source (tampered with)
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