As you go through your status feed on your Facebook account, one thing is most likely going to cross your mind at some point or another: Who is this person? We are constantly adding, or “friending”, people on Facebook and following people on Twitter who we either have met one time at a random occurence or have no chance of ever meeting. Why do we feel the need to add these people to our circles? Why is the idea of having hundreds of people with whom we share and spread thoughts so comforting for most?
As with many people, there are certain people who I will remember forever…and others that I won’t. These are the people that I question their identity on a daily basis, but for some reason or another I do not “un-friend” them. I am constantly reading about what they ate that day, how much they hate studying, and for some odd reason I can tell you whether or not they are in a relationship…oh, and also if it’s “complicated” or not. There is a constant need to fill our circles with individuals, no matter how meaningless their impact on our lives are.
With this in mind, I believe that true “friends” are being less and less important. We feel close to almost everyone we read about online that we don’t need to have thoughtful, emotional conversations with anyone, which is usually what leads to true friendships. This is not to say that people do not know who their true “friends” are, I just believe that notion is less and less important each day. It’s important to expand your social network, however, I do believe that it is equally important to have a reason for that expansion.