some of you have no idea what i'm talking about... most of you however, know exactly what i mean. it amazes me how technology lingo becomes normal in conversation. for example, "googled" is an understood verb meaning, "to search for something on the internet." anyway, i digress.
so for further explanation to help you get through the rest of this post... when you decide to share information and connect with someone on facebook, it is called "friending" them. when you decide to take that back, it's called "de-friending."
i don't know about you, but the moment i realize that i've been removed as someone's facebook friend, i'm not sure how to take it. i'm not an extremely sensitive person, but for some reason, "de-friending" bugs me. i admit that, on occasion, i have participated in a de-friending or two... but the act usually involves people i haven't ever had a personal relationship with or thinks that facebook is the appropriate medium to cram useless information down my throat.
because of the kind of ministry i am involved in, i spend a lot of time using social networking tools. next to email, facebook and twitter are the two most popular internet sites visited by my computer. they help me keep in touch with friends, students and publicize the happenings of the ministry where i work. in other words, whether it's good or not, social networking is an actual part of my interaction with community. it's definitely not my main source of community, but it's community none the less.
(social networking mixed with the Gospel is something i think about a lot... specifically, how do we use the internet for eternal purposes? click here to read a previous post about the topic.)
i wish that being removed as someone's facebook friend, being blocked from following someone on twitter, etc didn't impact me... but sadly, it does. the actual impact depends on the person and their involvement in my life.
what about you? do you feel rejected when excommunicated from someone's social networking neighborhood? or am i truly getting more sensitive in my old age?
