Faceless Facebook Friends
I’m not sure what I am more shocked about:
a. Two girls (both aged 15) set up a Facebook profile in a false name (“Jaydon Rothwell”), befriend one of their own friends via the profile and then fake the suicide of “Jaydon”, leading to a tribute page (on Facebook) being set up or
b. Messages of condolence being posted to the tribute page from complete strangers who had never (or could never have) known “Jaydon”
Whilst I think that the fake Facebook account was initially set up as a bullying strategy, in some respects, these two girls have displayed exactly how easy it is to fall into the trap of commenting in the public arena just to show that you are actively involved. I almost wrote a blog post in a similar vein when Amanda Holden lost her baby but was stopped in my tracks because I actually agreed with something that Jan Moir had written (but don't get me started on the use of the pictures of Ms Holden clutching her pregnancy tummy after she lost the baby *rage*). The public displays of sorrow and affection on Twitter unnerved me. Messages were sent from various celebrities to Ms Holden’s twitter account full of “love” and “deep upset”. Why was there this need for immediate “LOOK AT ME... I CARE... SEE MY TWEET”? What was wrong with sending a message privately? Are we really becoming so tied up in the world of immediate news and communication that this is the only way to schmooze?
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| 01.03.11 - good question! |
Why can we not control our social engagement? Do we need to add all and sundry to our Twitter or Facebook lists just to prove that we are popular? Do we actually converse with everyone that we are “friends” with or do we connect with people because we believe a refusal offends?
I agree this is a little bit like the pot calling the kettle black. I follow just over 700 people on Twitter and have over 500 Facebook Friends. It is managed though (ye hear me protest). Twitter is free and easy – I follow people who interest ME and who I know will be active in my timeline and I’m not afraid to mix it up a little. I don’t follow people for the sake of being part of #teamfollowback *pukes*. In the same respect my Facebook friends are all “listed” (in more way than one *wink*); Family, Real Life, School, OU, blog, friends of friends, etc. and the invention of “hide this person” and “limited profile” has been the way forward *evil laugh*.
Who is more popular? Is it the person with lots of connections but hardly any interaction or the person with less connections but a higher rate of interaction?