Daily Nugget #170 - Facebook Etiquette 101: Friend list maintenance

Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today to talk about this thing called Facebook. I use it daily. I am not here to plug it or demonize it. Rather, I would like this entry to serve as a friendly guidepost, as you navigate the seas of social networking. Is that cool with you? Beautiful..........let us proceed then.

Initially, I'd like to clarify the term, "local friends." For the sake of this discussion, these are people that live in your local area and may frequent some of the same locales that you do.

This is my point, in the form of a question: "If a 'friend' of yours lives in your immediate area of travel and you rarely or never converse with them by text or phone call, then why would you expose them to online communication?"

This, of course, is a rhetorical question. However, it is one that I had to ask myself in the recent past. I concluded that there were a few people that fell into this category. Consequently, I disconnected from them. Whether they were blocked or deleted, depended on the nature of my interactions with them. I will give a few real-world scenarios that go beyond the scope of this topic for the sake of accountability to the Dr. W.D. audience and also, honestly, just to keep it real.

1. I have a dear friend that I've known for a long time that I am very fond of. However, he/she constantly used profanity. I had to cut him/her. (from my Friends list, that is; not literally. I am clarifying for my wonderful friends that are in the law enforcement arena. No homicide took place.)
2. There is another person that I see frequently in a social setting, but my dialogue with him is always strained or one-sided. I cut him/her too. (The one side was my side; and I just got tired of carrying the load.)
3. I had an elementary school classmate that put in a friend request. I accepted and he/she never spoke with me after that. Then one day, I updated my status with something that he/she disagreed with......and he/she exploded on me, in front of all my other friends. He/She was also cut. (This one should need no explanation.)

We must always remember that life is too short to clutter it with those that are not respectful of your time, space, or friendship. Pray/meditate, take a deep breath and go through the friends list and consider each one. Quantity and quality are rarely the same.

Today is the first day of summer. We must embrace closely, those who increase our sunny days, be patient with those who look to us for shade from the heat, and maintain a healthy distance, electronically speaking, from those who bring us storms, tornadoes and hurricanes. As long as we remember to keep Christ close at all times, we are equipped to weather all conditions.

Sleep tight party people.


Dr. Wick Daddy
Copyright 2011


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