Social Networking Profiles: To Friend or Not To Friend?

Recently a friend and former co-worker’s profile appeared on my Facebook wall for the first time. One look at the face and the name and I did not hesitate to send a friend request. I was 100% confident that the minute they saw my name and profile that they would accept because it was that kind of a relationship. This is not always the case, however; sometimes I have to think about sending the request, and that is not a good sign. As another Facebook friend put it, if you have to think about sending a friend request, it’s probably not a good idea!

When one former friend’s profile appeared on my wall, I sent the person a friend request because I felt obligated to. I created a Facebook group that said person should belong to, and I felt that my personal feelings should not influence my decision. It remains to be seen whether they respond; if they don’t, I won’t follow up, and my feelings won’t be hurt one bit.

When a former lover or spouse’s profile appears, my guess is that many people just stare at it for a while. From there the next move can vary as wildly as relationships do. At best, a great connection can be rekindled or revisited; at worst, a horrible mistake can be repeated. (When a former lover’s profile appeared on my wall, I blocked it immediately.)

Social networking profiles can be misused or abused. Spoofing a person’s profile really isn’t that difficult, especially if you have some personal information of theirs. If you haven’t seen or heard from them in a while, how do you know that they are really the person they claim to be? Be careful out there.

Co-workers (former and current) can be a gold mine, a disappointment, or a minefield.  To date I have experienced all three. Facebook is now sending these profiles to my wall’s sidebar in such droves that I am currently in the midst of a new friend moratorium; I don’t want to have fair-weather friends on Facebook or in real life. When a keeper comes along, I will know it, and the moratorium will end.

How important is ANY of the above? Not very, in my humble opinion. It’s nice to get back in touch with old friends and such, but if you were that close in the first place you would probably never have lost touch with said person. Facebook and to a lesser extent Twitter are a part of my life that I can lose without skipping a beat. Don’t let social networking be anything more than it is: a resource, a diversion, an application, a tool.

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