now 'friend' has gone from noun to verb, and ironically, the verb form requires much less action.
add as friend. click. done. you have friended someone.
we all have more "friends" than ever.
but it would be so awkward if in real life when someone said something we agreed with, we just stood there and gave them a thumbs up. you definitely would not want to go around poking people (get your mind out of the gutter if it went there, though you don't want to be doing that either).
so why do we carry the facebook friend principle into our "real lives?" why is the value essential to true friendships not placed there? why is it easier to click "like" than to actually speak to someone?
i should probably say that i am a friender. if i have met you once during the current facebook era, you are or have been my "friend." i may not even recognize you if i saw you in person again, but i will add you on facebook. that's just how i am. i think it seems like the friendly thing to do.
it's also a great way to keep track of people from the past or who live far away - for example, friends from high school that you might not see, but you get to watch their kids grow up in their photo albums and read about what is going on in their lives.
but the problem occurs, i think, when there are people that you clearly should be living life with as friends, and instead, you occasionally "like" a post or creep on their page.
i think it's probably something a lot of us find ourselves doing, either out of habit or on purpose, or both.
just something i've been thinking about. now i'm wondering who will be the one who just stands there and gives me a thumbs up when i'm talking.
