"In my day, seeing pictures of people's vacations was considered a punishment."
-Betty White's thoughts on Facebook, SNL Monologue
When Belle is napping, I tend to get on Facebook and waste time. I read status updates, play Bejeweled and sometimes browse through other people's pictures.
The other day, I was looking at pictures posted by a girl I knew in junior high. We weren't friends in junior high, so naturally it made sense that we were "friends" on Facebook. After a minute or two of clicking from one picture to the next, I started to get envious of this girl's life. It seemed so much more luxurious and interesting than my own and I guess I got a little jealous. And that made me mad. Why was I letting myself feel this way? This girl was nothing to me. I hadn't seen or talked to her in 15+ years. The three years we were under the same roof for approximately 6 hours a day, 5 days a week, we never talked to each other. If there was ever a person who could bring me down, this was definitely not the one.
I stopped looking at the pictures and went to my list of friends. I scrolled through all the names and one by one, I started deleting people. I deleted people that I had removed from my NewsFeed - people that I had removed from the feed because their comments annoyed me, so why be friends at all? - and so forth. I ultimately deleted over 100 people.
Now as I glance at my list, I feel it is much more accurate. They are people I know and have seen or talked to in the last decade. They are family members, old roommates, close friends from school, etc. They are people that I genuinely want to be in contact with and who I don't mind see the pictures I post of myself and family.
So, to you my readers, do you ever find yourself looking at photos on Facebook and getting envious? Are you friends with people you really do like, or were you like me and just accepted (for the most part) and ol' request that came your way?
Thoughts?
The other day, I was looking at pictures posted by a girl I knew in junior high. We weren't friends in junior high, so naturally it made sense that we were "friends" on Facebook. After a minute or two of clicking from one picture to the next, I started to get envious of this girl's life. It seemed so much more luxurious and interesting than my own and I guess I got a little jealous. And that made me mad. Why was I letting myself feel this way? This girl was nothing to me. I hadn't seen or talked to her in 15+ years. The three years we were under the same roof for approximately 6 hours a day, 5 days a week, we never talked to each other. If there was ever a person who could bring me down, this was definitely not the one.
I stopped looking at the pictures and went to my list of friends. I scrolled through all the names and one by one, I started deleting people. I deleted people that I had removed from my NewsFeed - people that I had removed from the feed because their comments annoyed me, so why be friends at all? - and so forth. I ultimately deleted over 100 people.
Now as I glance at my list, I feel it is much more accurate. They are people I know and have seen or talked to in the last decade. They are family members, old roommates, close friends from school, etc. They are people that I genuinely want to be in contact with and who I don't mind see the pictures I post of myself and family.
So, to you my readers, do you ever find yourself looking at photos on Facebook and getting envious? Are you friends with people you really do like, or were you like me and just accepted (for the most part) and ol' request that came your way?
Thoughts?
I do find it weird how many people I basically don't know at all who want to friend me on FB. Though what I find even weirder is all the strange coincidences I find out about via FB. Like my ex who married someone from my high school even though he lived no where near my HS, AND they now both live in the same state as me, 1000 miles from that school. FB definitely changes one's perspective.
ReplyDeleteFacebook certainly makes the world a lot smaller!
ReplyDeleteThis is what Jimmy Kimmel's Unfriend Day was all about. I have some Facebook friends that I'm not necessarily friends with, but they are all people that I'm interested in knowing or have some connection with. And I've had an actual conversation with just about every single one of them. :-)
ReplyDeleteI do get jealous sometimes when I see other people's pics and stuff. But then I remind myself that nobody is going to willingly post a BAD photo of themself on Facebook. And most people don't post bad things on their status. Well, some do, you know the people who are always sick or whatever. But basically, everyone is posting the best possible version of themselves. So, it's probably not an accurate snapshot of their real life.
ReplyDelete