The Social Media Disconnect.

Surreal and quite odd how the real and make-believe world intercept.

We all have them. Facebook friends that gosh darn it, we either have never met, never will meet again or who were on our peripheral before we even thought of computers and who we would have never taken the time to become more friendly with. We can't be friends with everyone we've ever met or gone to school with. Sounds terrible but sadly it is true. Of course we thankfully also do have Facebook friends who are friends on and off the screen. They are life's real treasures.

Living in such a small village, one doesn't want to ignore FB friend requests even though one has never talked nor interacted with that person before. Therefore I do have a couple of people on my social media account who, when I encounter them in real life, I only get to exchange a quick and rather impersonal nod of recognition, despite knowing so much about them from their online postings. How is it that we know about somebody's holiday, cooking skills, children's achievements and spousal bliss yet the minute we clap eyes on them, a wall of polite amnesia is put up.

Often I wonder if they think the same about me. As it is I have tried to limit the personal details I put online figuring that friends or family deserve real life conversations and updates.

There is of course the opposite spectrum of one's online circle of friends. Those that let themselves be drawn into typing ugly and cringe-worthy political comments that make one run the other way when encountering them in real life. Or those that love to post ( ie, brag ) about all the things they have acquired, places they have been to and cars they have bought.
Let's be honest, weren't those the people we would avoid like the plague before the onset of social media ...nobody liked the show offs!

Biggi