FACEBOOK KEEPS HIGH SCHOOL CLIQUES ALIVE

From the Right-Side...

I freely admit I harbor a love-loathe relationship with Facebook.

High School inside our Facebook world.

Under various email accounts through the years, I have activated and deactivated a plethora of Facebook meanderings. MySpace bombed and I went along with the crowd, grumbling.

The constant in this vast wasteland is the friending aspect. Who to friend and why?

Amidst all the spam friend requests from questionable accounts and weird homelands, here is how it happens. You friend or get friended by someone from your present, past, or your WAY past. You see others you knew, and like the Hokey-Pokey, that's what it's all about. A friending whirlpool.

Happily, I have connected with some fascinating people.

Of more interest in many ways...the faces from those high school cliques who shared the hallways and bad fashion choices.

I can not, in all honesty, call them friends, because they were not, for the most part. Even the few who landed in the friend column at the time, were not, in actuality. There are a few exceptions.

My personal observation in all this social media friending frenzy from ancient history is how people seem to fall back into the same circles.

In researching for this post, I clicked through and scanned friends and friends of friends of those who shared the commencement stage with me.

There they were, friends with the same old chums. Cliques are solid, and that should give us comfort in this unstable world.

I would start a clique with my dog, but I don't think she would even friend me on Facebook. She tolerates me for food and treats, not my social skills.

Oh, I even sent a few friend requests (had to explain who I was...name, time, hair color and faces march on) as a test. Silence.

What a relief. Those who didn't associate with me then, hold to their standards.

Fascinating and amusing project for me, and I enjoyed it immensely.

Facebook has given us games, news, and the ability to live the days of past glory...indefinitely.

If your glory happened post-high school, congratulations. That is called real life, and I am very, very good with that arrangement.

But, now I am thinking I could probably have been in a high school clique...if only I had given out jerky treats as I strolled the smelly hallways.

Gotta dash...

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From the Left-Side...

You bring up a lot of good points, R-S. I remember early on one of the running jokes was, "On the Internet, no one knows you are a dog." Thanks to all the social media out there, they not only know you are a dog but also have probably done a background check on you as well.

Facebook is kind of like the high school reunion that never stops. And as much as I enjoyed (for the most part) that time in my life, I was happy to move on and declare "been there, done that, got the diploma."

And to your point, let's be careful how we use the word "friend." In the majority of cases, a more accurate way to say it would be, "I'm going to acquaintance you." Let's face it, very few people in this life actually rise to my definition of "friend." And that's OK. As they say, a friend is the family you choose for yourself. Those people are special, and hold a special place.

If they, we, I choose to share that special-ness on Facebook, I've got no problem with that. But for me, what we see on social media is just the tiny, tiny tip of the friendship iceberg. Best to keep it in perspective.

Back to you, R-S. -- The Left-Side.

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