Facebook’s “Thanks for the Addition”
Let’s not go through what Facebook is or isn’t, if you are familiar with it you already know. Its been called ‘the market square’, some refer to it as ‘the town hall’ and others simply identify it as a platform for reunion, connection, re-connection and re-reconnection. There is nothing wanting in the network, as long as you have the courage to post or share it you are likely going to get a response in a blink. It is the fastest growing means of communication, addictive, with a very agonizing withdrawal syndrome. Everyday the management introduces new deals to make it more confusing for the user rather than keep them, endears them the more.
The number of friends each user has also grows by the hour whether familiar or not, thus the purpose, to “connect and share with the people in your life” is no longer valid. Now, that is not wrong since the world is turning into a global community. Sticking with your friends prevents you from making new friends and also keeps you in the dark about peoples experiences, culture and lifestyles you only learn through travelling. So the click and add phenomenon continues.
A dilemma about it however is yet to be resolved - the burden of gratitude for the friendship or networking soliciting if you will. On whose shoulders should it be borne? Who should be more thankful, the person adding the friend or the person accepting to be added as a friend? Why go out of your way to attach an unknown person to your list and expect to be thanked and why be so ‘magnanimous’ to confirm a mysterious request and also accompany it with a “thanks for the addition” missive?
The dialogue box for the request warns about adding and confirming only friends, with two tabs below it giving you the option to either confirm or ignore the request. Some people overlook the request doing neither until weeks, months and even ‘years’ later you wake up and “pop, in your face, Tom, Dick or Harriet has confirmed you as a friend”. Then you begin to wonder, when again did I add this person, can’t recollect! Why wait? Save the ‘seeker’ the trauma of watching their dead and forgotten request resurrect by ignoring it, and if you confirm, the remove button is always there to check.
Methinks the ‘addee’ should grope at the feet of the ‘adder’. If you are sought after, it means you are appreciated and something in you has been recognized as worthy of association and emulation. That doesn’t stop you from being wary of the motives, besides it is a social space for interaction and you are not expected to display your family secrets on it. You are entitled to your Wall and suddenly deciding this person has earned the right to view it after all, puts you on a pedestal equal with the Almighty. Don’t wish for that.
The number of friends each user has also grows by the hour whether familiar or not, thus the purpose, to “connect and share with the people in your life” is no longer valid. Now, that is not wrong since the world is turning into a global community. Sticking with your friends prevents you from making new friends and also keeps you in the dark about peoples experiences, culture and lifestyles you only learn through travelling. So the click and add phenomenon continues.
A dilemma about it however is yet to be resolved - the burden of gratitude for the friendship or networking soliciting if you will. On whose shoulders should it be borne? Who should be more thankful, the person adding the friend or the person accepting to be added as a friend? Why go out of your way to attach an unknown person to your list and expect to be thanked and why be so ‘magnanimous’ to confirm a mysterious request and also accompany it with a “thanks for the addition” missive?
The dialogue box for the request warns about adding and confirming only friends, with two tabs below it giving you the option to either confirm or ignore the request. Some people overlook the request doing neither until weeks, months and even ‘years’ later you wake up and “pop, in your face, Tom, Dick or Harriet has confirmed you as a friend”. Then you begin to wonder, when again did I add this person, can’t recollect! Why wait? Save the ‘seeker’ the trauma of watching their dead and forgotten request resurrect by ignoring it, and if you confirm, the remove button is always there to check.
Methinks the ‘addee’ should grope at the feet of the ‘adder’. If you are sought after, it means you are appreciated and something in you has been recognized as worthy of association and emulation. That doesn’t stop you from being wary of the motives, besides it is a social space for interaction and you are not expected to display your family secrets on it. You are entitled to your Wall and suddenly deciding this person has earned the right to view it after all, puts you on a pedestal equal with the Almighty. Don’t wish for that.
With so many social networks available,
ReplyDeletemy dilemma is deciding which ones to join;
or keep.
Great post! Thanks for sharing.