In the not so distant past, I've noticed quite a few slightly weird occurrences that wouldn't have otherwise come about, without Facebook's existence. While Myspace may have taken whatever sketchy honors were up for grabs, Facebook seems to have taken over as the fountain of social awkwardness.
There are things that have sprung up, directly related to this site's usage that would normally never arise, on their own. For instance, I'm Facebook friends with two girls I don't know. Just typing that makes the DANGER! DANGER! lights start flashing in my head. But I can explain, really!
One of them is recognizable, from 4-H. She's enough younger than me that I don't really know her, but I know who she is... so, when she sent a friend request, I thought about it for a while, and decided to put her on my limited profile list. Between her, and a younger family member, I am reminded of so much teenage angst! I'm grateful I accepted, just to be reminded to be happy that I'm a much happier age now.
The other girl, I ha[d] no recollection of ever seeing. But, I saw that she was an incoming student, in the program I finished this summer. It's a relatively small, tightly knit program, so I almost consider her a friend (or at least a colleague), just because of that. Before I accepted her request, though, I was faced with a conundrum: What if I meet this girl, later on... only for both of us to realize that she "friended" me before we had met. Awkward. Or... what if she sees that I didn't accept her request, and she thinks, "what a [stuck up/mean/rude/etc] person." And then, if we happened to meet at a student thing down the road, her perception of me is already marred. Awkward.
So... I decided that the potential cost of not accepting her request outweighed the benefit(s). Since then, there's only one problem that's come up: I see her - at least once a week - and I know who she is. (And, maybe even what she did, last summer.) Talk about making me feel creepy. Thanks, Facebook!
Comments (1)
"I am reminded of so much teenage angst!" favorite line lol. :) AW the science of facebook... Yeah get people I hardly talk to asking to be my friend or like people I secretly dont like lol. I heart awkwardness tho.