Like Wars, Unfriending and Drama on Facebook!

I've been on Facebook since 2004...pretty much since it was invented and boy has it evolved! For those of us who use it, I think Facebook controls us in more ways than one. For instance, when we upload pictures and update statuses, we expect some kind of response from our friends, either in the form of 'likes' or comments. No likes or comments means you are a nobody. To make matters more intense, we start getting worried when our close friends don't like our posts. Is she mad at me? Is she better friends with that other person whose posts she keeps liking? All kinds of thoughts run amok through our minds. Initially, liking wasn't much of a big deal. But now...now liking means the world in the Facebook community. A lack of likes from an active Facebook friend is guaranteed to mean some kind of beef. I say active friend because if you were to compare all Facebook friends, you'd be in a fix as inactive friends rarely show any activity on Facebook. A like can mean so many things...from a pat on your back to 'yeah I still like you'. I am not stingy with likes for the most part but when I see friends and acquaintances (active ones) being thrifty with likes, I close my 'likes' shop too!

Moving on to unfriending. I probably unfriended a few people here and there a long, long time ago. However, in recent times, I have started to think about unfriending much more seriously. The social networking landscape has changed immensely over the years. Even compared to 5 years ago, statistics indicate socializing is much more prevalent online than anywhere else and I predict the numbers to only go higher. For instance, when someone unfriends me now, I feel much more affected than I would have 5 years ago. Now, if I am not feeling so groovy about someone, I will simple Unfollow them. Its a simple function that keeps that person out of your news feed. No fuss no muss. I feel especially sad when I see someone unfriend me who I haven't met in a long time. There have been instances where someone will send a friend request a few months after unfriending and usually this is someone I am not to close to...make absolutely no sense. I say, if you have a problem, just unfollow and if they are a real threat or cause for concern, thats when you can hit that unfriend button.

Overall, Facebook has changed the mechanics of our relationships with our friends, family and acquaintances. I don't know how much more it could change our relationships, but something tells me its going to be downhill from here as too much of a good thing, can be bad.