I’m not a huge fan of country music, but as I was thinking about a Facebook topic for this post, one song in particular came to mind. Brad Paisley’s “Online” is the story of an overweight, socially inept, ultra nerdy pizza delivery guy who lives his nights a famous Hollywood character.
How does he do this?
Simple. While social networking sites like Facebook are great ways to keep in touch with distant friends and relatives, who is to say these people aren’t misrepresenting themselves? Everybody wants to be the person in the spotlight, and the ease with which Facebook (other social sites too) allows someone to “enhance” their online profile is often too tempting for many. Craig Murphy shares some of these sentiments in a post on The Social Programmer.
Don’t get me wrong–Facebook is a great tool and I enjoy being able to quickly contact distant friends. However, I think it is important to know who you are becoming “friends” with on Facebook. Nothing beats getting to know a person like good old fashioned face-to-face conversation.
One Response to “Facebook Friends – Is that really you?”
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A girl that went to my highschool was stalked last summer by someone she became “friends” with on facebook. He actually showed up at her school, she thought he seemed nice on facebook….It can be dangerous to become facebook friends with someone that just looks like they have a nice profile. As you said the best way to get to know someone is through a face to face convo.