So it isn’t a secret that 99% of us are on social media. We’re connected today in a way that our parents never could be. We literally can FaceTime or Skype everyday with people thousands of miles away and feel more connected than the people who live down the street from us. You can join me as I go “live” on Facebook or via my InstaStory and be right there with me at my dentist appointment, favourite concert or heck even wedding. It is crazy if you begin to think that 20 years ago this was not the norm and now this generation knows no different.
So how many friends are too many? One day I was having a heated discussion with a friend about Facebook and really did they need to have 800 friends? How many of these people truly had an impact on their life? How many of these people did they really care about and furthermore how many of these did they actually know? It is crazy to think that so much of what we do is out there for the public to see. That absolutely is not a criticism on anyone, it is just an observation. Did we give up our privacy when cell phones became cheap enough that even most 8 year olds have them? And if so, what are we teaching our kids? Do our friendships need to be validated by the person on the other side of the screen? Are we giving up our human interaction for a number of likes?
I have had a couple of former friends now who have blocked me on social media. The first time it happened it bothered me, the second time not so much. As I was decorating for the holidays I found Christmas cards from past years from these people telling me how wonderful of a friend I was and how lucky they were to have me in their lives. I’m not writing this to toot my own horn, these were their words. My question is how can someone so important in your life be shut out without a conversation and by the click of a block button? Trust me, my life moved on and I didn’t lose any sleep over it but if you’re creeping my blog, as I think you may be, I ask you to look inside of yourself and answer that question. Has social media devaluized friendship? I truly believe that there are very few people who are meant to be in your life for the long haul. I’m so fortunate to have a few of those in my inner tribe. I can count on more than one hand people that I have had in my life over 20 years, how blessed am I to say that. Friendship, like marriage is work. Not necessarily hard work but you need to put time and effort in to make it viable. You need to care enough about the other person to make a sacrifice to see them over coffee, wine, or even a quick FaceTime. You need to invest in your friends because after yourself and your family, they’re all you’ve got!
