Facebook Amnesty! You can delete me, it’s okay.
Rant #2 about how Facebook is destroying blogging.
Facebook is weird. It allows me these constant, instantaneous glimpses into the personal lives of people I care about – and people I barely know, as well. I heard someone describe Facebook recently as a tool that lets you know the intimate details of people you would never speak to in real life. That may be extreme, but it’s close to the truth.
I’ve noticed since I started using Facebook more and more that I’m writing WAY less on my blog. And it’s not just me – I’ve noticed it among almost all of my blogging friends, too. I miss having my blog as an outlet. I use Facebook for that purpose as well, but I’m really craving the “writing about my life” part, and ready to walk away from the “Which 80s Movie Character Are You?” part.
What I’m getting to is this – out of my 286 (fuck, REALLY? 286? Seriously?) friends, I’m guessing the breakdown is something like…
50 people I know in real life, who I like a lot
50 people I knew as casual acquaintances in high school
15 people from high school I’m thrilled to be in contact with and talk to regularly
15 people who are extended family, who I never, ever talked to until Facebook
10 people who are friends of my husband, but whom I really don’t know
30-50 people I know from local social groups, 15 or so who actually talk to me at events
and 100 or so people I know online only, who don’t communicate with me outside of message boards/blog comments.
I’m not saying that’s uncommon – I think that’s true of a lot of Facebook users. Still, it’s feeling WAY out of hand. You know what the problem is? I’ll tell you. It’s NOSTALGIA. We see someone we knew back in the day, and we’re so happy to FIND them again, and we get all caught up and share pictures of our kids, and post a couple of pictures from 20 years ago and laugh about our big hair, and then…that’s it. We realize…this person and I have nothing in common, and we’re out of stuff to talk about. And then we’re stuck making uncomfortable small talk, via “liking” someone’s status updates.
I’m declaring (once again!) FACEBOOK AMNESTY! Unfriend at will. Unfriend me! You won’t hurt my feelings, I promise. If we’re all caught up and you feel like it’s just time to move on with your life, feel free to cut me loose. I won’t be offended. Somebody’s got to do it!
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Laura, also known as LaLaGirl, is the mother of a teenager and two young sets of twins. She's happily married, loves living in Colorado, and writes almost daily about married life, raising multiples, and parenting a child with autism.
Questions? Just 
September 29th, 2009 at 4:20 pm
I know. I’m probably the last person on the planet to join Facebook and I’m already a little ‘iffy’ about it. You know, there is a reason that I lost communication with some of the people that I knew in high school! LOL!
September 30th, 2009 at 2:24 am
Yes. 100% correct. Facebook and other social networking sites have ruined the blogging scenario. I spend hours playing that stupid farmville..
October 1st, 2009 at 2:07 am
My blogs have been totally neglected this year while facebook gets all the spare moments and witty chatter. LOL