{"id":12844,"date":"2019-12-14T10:30:28","date_gmt":"2019-12-14T15:30:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/townehouse.net\/?p=12844"},"modified":"2019-12-15T14:06:34","modified_gmt":"2019-12-15T19:06:34","slug":"friends-really","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/townehouse.net\/?p=12844","title":{"rendered":"Friends?\u00a0 Really?"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>I must admit, I am not a big fan of the so-called social media, I think it is a mistake to use the word social as for too often it is anything but social.\u00a0 Frequently it is filled with hate, rage, and anti-social commentary. What is disturbing to me is the use of the word friend.\u00a0 I personally have several hundred \u201cfriends\u201d on Facebook, I know of some who have several thousand, and even a few who have reached the Facebook imposed limit of 5000.\u00a0 But, are they really friends?<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

A definition of friends I gleaned from a Google search is \u201ca person whom one knows and with whom one has a bond of mutual affection, typically exclusive of sexual or family relations.\u201d\u00a0 How well does that fit the people on your friends list?\u00a0 To me a friend is someone you know well, are comfortable with, and miss when they are no longer around.\u00a0 A friend is someone you don\u2019t mind hugging, would like to share a beer (or two) with, and are comfortable discussing some of your most private thoughts.\u00a0 With that concept in mind, how many people on your Facebook friends list meet any or all all that criteria?\u00a0 In my case, only a few.<\/p>\n

Here is a challenge for you when you are sitting on the couch and only slightly interested in the TV show you are watching.\u00a0 Pull up your Facebook friends list and browse through it and imagine how many people you would unfriend because they are not really a friend, or because you have no idea who they are or why they are on the list.\u00a0 Now look at the list again and consider how many of those friends you have ever met in person, would recognize if you passed them on the street, or would really like to sit down and have a beer (or two) with them.\u00a0 Finally, based on the above definition of friend, remove all your family members from the list of friends.\u00a0 How long is the list now?<\/p>\n

I cannot imply a problem without suggesting a solution.\u00a0 My solution is that Facebook give other choices when labeling a Facebook contact.\u00a0 I propose the following; Close Family,<\/strong> Family<\/strong>, True Friends<\/strong>, Real Life Acquaintances<\/strong>, People I Know From Work<\/strong>, People Who, \u00a0Were It Not For Facebook, \u00a0I Would Not Even Know Their Names<\/strong>, and finally, the I Really Have No Idea Who This Person Is<\/strong> group.\u00a0 That should help organize your list.\u00a0 It might be interesting to see if, over time, if anyone is moved from one group to another.\u00a0 For example, from Real Life Acquaintance to True Friend.\u00a0 It is always nice to make a new friend.<\/p>\n

That pretty much sums it up for this week.\u00a0 I hope you find your life less complicated as a result of this.\u00a0 And so, as we used to say many, many years ago, \u201csee you in the funny papers\u201d … friend<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Those are my thoughts, what are yours?<\/p>\n

Feel free to comment, like, share, agree or disagree with this post.\u00a0 Please consider a free subscription.\u00a0 Options to like and subscribe<\/a> can be found elsewhere on the page.\u00a0 Thank you for reading the Townehouse Blog.<\/p>\n

This material may be published, broadcast, or redistributed.\u00a0 In fact, I encourage it.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I must admit, I am not a big fan of the so-called social media, I think it is a mistake to use the word social as for too often it is anything but social.\u00a0 Frequently […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":12868,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_daextrevo_audio_file_creation_date":"","_daextrevo_text_to_speech":"","_daextrevo_document_type":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[13],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-12844","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-commentary"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/townehouse.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/Here%E2%80%99s-How-You-Can-Find-Out-Who%E2%80%99s-Ignoring-Your-Friend-Requests_542946169-Anikei-1024x683-1.jpg?fit=720%2C480&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":745,"url":"https:\/\/townehouse.net\/?p=745","url_meta":{"origin":12844,"position":0},"title":"Facebook and Politicians","author":"Tom Lind","date":"November 2, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"About a month ago I reported in this blog on the social media acumen of the currently seated City of Cincinnati Council members and the two mayoral candidates. The point was to demonstrate if those politicians were aware of the reach of social media, and were they inclined to use\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Commentary"","block_context":{"text":"Commentary","link":"https:\/\/townehouse.net\/?cat=13"},"img":{"alt_text":"WebPolitics","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/townehouse.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/11\/WebPolitics-150x150.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":900,"url":"https:\/\/townehouse.net\/?p=900","url_meta":{"origin":12844,"position":1},"title":"Un’friend’ly People","author":"Tom Lind","date":"May 23, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"As you may recall, several months before the November 2013 election I conducted an experiment with social media, specifically with Facebook. I was attempting to see how responsive to a friend request current council members, and potential council members would be. So, I submitted a friend request to each category\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Commentary"","block_context":{"text":"Commentary","link":"https:\/\/townehouse.net\/?cat=13"},"img":{"alt_text":"seelbach","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/townehouse.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/05\/seelbach-150x150.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":11990,"url":"https:\/\/townehouse.net\/?p=11990","url_meta":{"origin":12844,"position":2},"title":"Farewell To Friends","author":"Tom Lind","date":"March 3, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Hearing of the death of a loved one or a friend or even an acquaintance is always difficult. I find myself contemplating their loss and feeling an emptiness that is difficult to comprehend or describe. Fortunately, time heals all, to some extent. Those that we have lost shift in time\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Commentary"","block_context":{"text":"Commentary","link":"https:\/\/townehouse.net\/?cat=13"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/townehouse.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/743_1.jpg?fit=800%2C800&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/townehouse.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/743_1.jpg?fit=800%2C800&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/townehouse.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/743_1.jpg?fit=800%2C800&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/townehouse.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/743_1.jpg?fit=800%2C800&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":584,"url":"https:\/\/townehouse.net\/?p=584","url_meta":{"origin":12844,"position":3},"title":"Silly Season Is Here!","author":"Tom Lind","date":"September 21, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"This November there will be both a mayoral and a council election. A few weeks back I saw my first political ad for the season. It was an ad for John Cranley and the entire add was dedicated to bashing his opponent, Roxanne Qualls. I hope this does not set\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Commentary"","block_context":{"text":"Commentary","link":"https:\/\/townehouse.net\/?cat=13"},"img":{"alt_text":"Political Race","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/townehouse.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/09\/political-horse-race-1-869562-150x150.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":11969,"url":"https:\/\/townehouse.net\/?p=11969","url_meta":{"origin":12844,"position":4},"title":"Keyboard warrior? I don’t think so!","author":"Tom Lind","date":"February 1, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"I have been a member of Facebook since about 2009. I originally had no interest in belonging to any sort of social media but due to some needs at work I found myself obligated to join and learn about this trend in American Pop Culture. I soon discovered there were\u00a0several\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Commentary"","block_context":{"text":"Commentary","link":"https:\/\/townehouse.net\/?cat=13"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/townehouse.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/2016-02-01-08.40.50.jpg?fit=800%2C531&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/townehouse.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/2016-02-01-08.40.50.jpg?fit=800%2C531&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/townehouse.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/2016-02-01-08.40.50.jpg?fit=800%2C531&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/townehouse.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/2016-02-01-08.40.50.jpg?fit=800%2C531&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":357,"url":"https:\/\/townehouse.net\/?p=357","url_meta":{"origin":12844,"position":5},"title":"Facebook Is Out Of Control!","author":"Tom Lind","date":"February 9, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"As I pondered on a topic for today's blog article (I encountered a brief block) I was coming up empty-handed (or empty-headed). Usually by mid-week I have decided on a topic and\u00a0have\u00a0spent the rest of the week mentally reviewing what I will write about. 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