Facebook

I am relatively new to Facebook. As a 40-something, I have seen methods of communication develop since my childhood. I routinely text my husband with questions, or funny pictures through the day but I clearly remember, as a freshman in college, waiting anxiously for the mail and letters from friends. In my freshman year, I went to a very conservative Catholic college run by the Sisters of Mercy. If they heard you swear or use bad language or swear, you didn't get mail for a week! It was awful. It took me awhile to catch on. I can't imagine in these days of immediacy, that college kids today would ever have to worry about that. Do people even write letters anymore?

Which brings me to Facebook. A new way to connect with old friends, keep in touch and a whole new way of insulting people, hurting their feelings. I'm talking about "unfriending". So, when you "unfriend" someone, are you "unfriending" them in life too? This recently happened to me. I must say I was devastated. And, by my estimation, we are no longer friends in "real life". This friend went through a fairly tough divorce which I knew nothing about until 2 years later. We have kids the same age and have known each other for about 10 years. To make a long story short, we have always had a kidding, sibling kind of relationship, sarcastic banter, and joking around. When we re-connected on FB, I continued as we had always done, kidding them about various posts etc. Apparently, the joke was on me. This person changed the rules on me. And instead of sharing with me his new desire for "positivity", I was dumped. To make matters worse, this person remained in contact with my husband.

Are we really to the point where human contact is so unnecessary? Where we can end relationships via technology? How sad. I mourn the loss of this friendship but also the loss of a world where this would not have happened.