According to the be all-end all, of information on the internet- Wikipedia, the main use of litmus is to test whether a solution is acidic or basic...so what does this have to do with Facebook friending you ask? Well...I recently had a conversation with a fabulous friend of mine where we were discussing a project I am working on and whether or not I have a "market" out there. She questioned me on my large number of Facebook friends...to which I replied "I only have around 700." I think if she had the physical capability of reaching through the phone and whacking me over the head with a rolled up newspaper, she would have done so! Of course she made the obvious remark of "pssshhh yeah ONLY 700"...to which I responded, "well there are so many with 1000, 2000 or even 3000 friends...my 700 pales in comparison to that!"
And then she said something that opened my eyes...cleared my vision...moved the clouds of naivete from my weary head....she told me, "those people don't have 3,000 friends...they just troll their friends Facebook pages and add them on. They get business cards throughout the day and 'add them to their network'. They don't actually know them..know them." I gasped at the thought of that...what a strange, obscure and unthinkable concept!
Why the heck would anyone add a person to their Facebook page if they didn't know them? I mean I totally understand the whole concept behind "hoeing" yourself on LinkedIn--- it is a professional networking arena, for Pete's sake!!! I am almost sure that if you looked up the word "networking" a drop down in the synonym tab would be the word hoe. I would, however, like to point out that on LinkedIn we are referred to as "connections" not friends---once again, professional networking at its finest, LOVE LINKEDIN!!!! Brilliant tool!
Whoa---got a little off track---sorry, I just get so excited about LinkedIn! Now back to the topic at hand---with the exception of celebrities and politicians or other public figures who use Facebook as a social media TOOL---why would anyone "friend" another person on Facebook without knowing them? It seems to be an odd thing to me? Are there really people out there that troll others pages to allocate a large amount of friends so they can say they have 3,000 Facebook friends? This simply can not be! I receive many requests to be a persons friend on Facebook that I have turned down because I simply do not know them personally. I even had people who were lame enough to try to friend me on my personal Facebook account who have openly spoken ill of me or purposefully did harm to me---as much as I am all for forgiveness and moving on in life, I am not that two-faced that I would list them as a friend on a personal networking arena..sorry but I basically enjoy looking at myself in the mirror without remorse of what I am looking at:)
So then, of course, this prompted me to think about what the benchmark would be? What is The Litmus Test of Facebook Friends for myself? Would I have this person over to my house for dinner?---nah...too much pressure! Would I stand as a reference for this person on their resume?---nah...I have a TON of friends that I adore but would never be their resume reference...that is for a whole other posting! I finally figured out what it was---If I saw them would I stop to have a conversation with them! Yes that was it---that was my Litmus Test for Facebook friends!
Of course, this meant that I had to go check my friend list--- I wanted to make sure that I was not being a hypocrite and actually knew all of my friends on the list..AND would have a conversation with them if I saw them on the street! I am very proud to say that yes I would...all 700+ of them! Some I knew better than others...some I only went to high school with, or worked a brief time with...but I did know all of them and I would definitely have a conversation with them!
So there it is folks---my Litmus Test for Facebook Friends! Remember the litmus is to test whether a solution is acidic or basic, and depending on how you view life you may want to make up your own Litmus Test for Facebook Friends---see whether they are acidic or basic! And if you take anything away from Miss Michelle today it should be to remember that it is ok to be "hoeing" yourself on LinkedIn (your career depends on it) :) but not on Facebook! Now, to each his own and may you all be well in your social media networks!
Malama Pono<<<Google it!!!
So cute and cutely written! And yes, people do troll and pick other people to try friending.
ReplyDeleteI think there are even apps that help you find people like you. Sometimes people who belong to car clubs, collector clubs, etc. connect up with people who share their passion (my MINI friends and Snoopy Collector friends). That said, your litmus test is a good one to live by -- especially for teens and young adults on social channels.