FACEBOOK
I was a relative latecomer to the world of the internet. But by jove I am making up for it now.
I was not convinced to join the "dark side" as I was on MySpace (remember that?. Not without cause dubbed MySpack). A colleague at work was extolling the virtues of joining. So one evening I did.
More often than not up popped their profile and a friend request was sent. Ooh, this is fun, I said to myself.
Within a couple of days I had oodles of "friends". Such an easy way to catch up with people.
It did not take me long however, to find out that a lot of these so called friends really did not want anything to do with me, indeed, we had bugger all in common other than sharing as classroom 20 odd years ago.
The one positive thing about Facebook is the "Ignore" button. I had to block a couple of army colleague for being racist (who'd have thought it eh?) and an old school friend for basically being a twonk.
Facebook has had some positive affects in my life. The old school reunions were excellent fun, and it was honestly lovely to catch up with old friends, and carry on the banter as though we had never been away.
But then the bottom drops out of it. I recently made an "Event" for another get together on one of my sojourns back to Romford. I think I invited 20 odd people. From those 20 only 4 had the the grace to actually reply either way to let me know. And when I say reply, I mean one, that's ONE click of the mouse to say yay, nay or maybe.
The banality of the excuses that certain people gave for non attendance (although I actually appreciate that they made an effort to lie to me)was laughable. One of them had been ill "all year" (this was in March), and could not make it. However, the fact that the individual travels the length and breadth of the country following football, and posts about it on Facebook despite his crippling ailment, seems to have not registered.
Facebook has had some positive affects in my life. The old school reunions were excellent fun, and it was honestly lovely to catch up with old friends, and carry on the banter as though we had never been away.
But then the bottom drops out of it. I recently made an "Event" for another get together on one of my sojourns back to Romford. I think I invited 20 odd people. From those 20 only 4 had the the grace to actually reply either way to let me know. And when I say reply, I mean one, that's ONE click of the mouse to say yay, nay or maybe.
The banality of the excuses that certain people gave for non attendance (although I actually appreciate that they made an effort to lie to me)was laughable. One of them had been ill "all year" (this was in March), and could not make it. However, the fact that the individual travels the length and breadth of the country following football, and posts about it on Facebook despite his crippling ailment, seems to have not registered.
Another person "just" remembered they had to go to a birthday party. "Just". Are not birthdays every year? Hmmm! However thanks to Roger, Nikki, and Andrew for turning up and making it a lovely evening (as always).
Then a person I regarded as a friend in real life, started to make snide comments, even admitting he was winding me up? Why? Why would you actually want to do that?
The thing about Facebook is, I am possibly one of the few people who treats it like real life. If someone pissed me off in real life, I ignore them. I don't wish to have anything more to do with them. I "unfriend" them. Obviously not when they are cheeky once or twice, but over a period of time, when the only comments are spiteful.
Another mistake I made, is sending friend requests to players of teams I support. It is inherently clear, 99% of us have nothing in common. I ceased to do this and actually started un-friending players of my local team. One in particular, sent ME another friend request. So I relented. The fact that this player has said less than 10 words to me in the couple of years I have been following the team, and in fact he ignored me completely when I was talking to his team mate literally (I hate using that word) 12 inches away, was the straw that broke the camels back!
I then decided that as I only interact with a few people on Facebook, I would filter my friends, so that only they would see what I post, as it was obvious the rest couldn't give a fuck.
So I whittled it down to just over 20 people. Then out of the 20, not even half commented on things I posted. Surely I can't be that boring can I?
The crowning glory was when I took over the Facebook group for Romford Football Club. I threw my heart and soul into it...providing facts, figures and stats. The only comments I got were from an old school mate and another supporter who I am fairly friendly with. I dramatically announced I was not doing it anymore, and the person who run the group before me stepped up to the plate.
Curiously, when he posted something, he suddenly gets 5 or 6 comments from different people? No how is one to take that? I don't expect constant thanks for my efforts but a bit of effort with someone replying, or disagreeing with something. Nothing...Nowt....Nada....Nichts!
So I left Facebook! Whether I return, is open to question. Have I overreacted? Very possibly! Do I care? No!
Then a person I regarded as a friend in real life, started to make snide comments, even admitting he was winding me up? Why? Why would you actually want to do that?
The thing about Facebook is, I am possibly one of the few people who treats it like real life. If someone pissed me off in real life, I ignore them. I don't wish to have anything more to do with them. I "unfriend" them. Obviously not when they are cheeky once or twice, but over a period of time, when the only comments are spiteful.
Another mistake I made, is sending friend requests to players of teams I support. It is inherently clear, 99% of us have nothing in common. I ceased to do this and actually started un-friending players of my local team. One in particular, sent ME another friend request. So I relented. The fact that this player has said less than 10 words to me in the couple of years I have been following the team, and in fact he ignored me completely when I was talking to his team mate literally (I hate using that word) 12 inches away, was the straw that broke the camels back!
I then decided that as I only interact with a few people on Facebook, I would filter my friends, so that only they would see what I post, as it was obvious the rest couldn't give a fuck.
So I whittled it down to just over 20 people. Then out of the 20, not even half commented on things I posted. Surely I can't be that boring can I?
The crowning glory was when I took over the Facebook group for Romford Football Club. I threw my heart and soul into it...providing facts, figures and stats. The only comments I got were from an old school mate and another supporter who I am fairly friendly with. I dramatically announced I was not doing it anymore, and the person who run the group before me stepped up to the plate.
Curiously, when he posted something, he suddenly gets 5 or 6 comments from different people? No how is one to take that? I don't expect constant thanks for my efforts but a bit of effort with someone replying, or disagreeing with something. Nothing...Nowt....Nada....Nichts!
So I left Facebook! Whether I return, is open to question. Have I overreacted? Very possibly! Do I care? No!
No comments:
Post a Comment