Facebook. And Friendship.

I wrote this post, then thought of deleting it because it sounds very juvenile. Then I thought, what the hell, it's MY blog, I post what I want. If its juvenile, so be it. :D

Love it or deny it, Facebook's become a part of our lives if we use the internet on a regular basis. You may log on often or rarely; may have a couple of friends or a couple of hundred connections, be apt at using it or not understand the finer details, it doesn't matter. What matters is that FB's redefined our ways of keeping in touch, reaching out, providing support, and of course, expressing ourselves, our thoughts, opinions, moods, experiences, personality, feelings, everything.

It wouldn't be wrong to say then that it's also a forum where we unconsciously express our affection towards friends, family, and of course better halves. Forget the latter two, let's consider friends.

Look through your profile and you will see that the people who really matter to you are all over it (provided of course, that they are regular users of the portal). Wall posts, messages, photos, comments, 'likes': they're all small things, little gestures of interaction and appreciation, or sharing of opinions, but they do add a certain aspect of fun to friendships. They may be superficial, virtual things but still, I believe they add depth to a relation because you get a good feeling when someone you hold dear 'likes' or responds to something you post. Isn't it true? If it's not true, you wouldn't post anything at all, I believe. Isn't interaction the whole POINT of a social network?

Well, so then, am I being unreasonable if I expect a friend who is always on Facebook and always interacting with OTHER friends to at least SOMEDAY show up on MY profile, drop a comment here or there? It doesn't even have to be a 'like' or a positive comment; tell me nasty stuff or pointless things too and I'll be happy, but for God's sake, don't ignore me and act like I mean nothing, like nothing I ever post is worth giving any response to.

Now, don't get me wrong here. I'm not one of those silly, insecure people who feels bad when nobody comments on her updates, I just feel bad when one particular person NEVER acknowledges my existence on their News Feed. Call me a kid or an attention-seeker or label me jealous of all the other people who my friend DOES Facebook with, I don't really care what you call me; I'm just being truly, starkly honest.

Agreed that Facebook interaction is definitely not the end all and be all of a friendship, neither is it a determinant of who cares and doesn't care for you. But it IS important when it comes to nurturing a friendship, especially a friendship which is largely online and phone-based because it's not always possible to meet. Lots of people comment on my updates, some whom I don't even know that well, then why doesn't the ONE person who is so important to me? I can't even describe the angry feeling I get when every time I log in, I see some update about 'important person' liking/commenting upon other people's statuses/photos/notes. I tried to tell them about it, but oh well, nothing came of that, surprise surprise.



Maybe I AM insecure, maybe I AM jealous, well SO? I think a certain amount of such negative feelings do creep into close friendships at times. I think it's normal to notice when someone who means a lot has all the Facebook time in the world for other people but not me. I think it's normal to feel bad about it. And I think it's normal to blog about little things that bug me.

And it's definitely normal for you to leave a comment of your choice on this rant of mine, so kindly go ahead. (You're allowed to call me an attention-seeker and all such things; I'm expecting it!! :P)

Image is from www.cartoonstock.com