Facebook Friend Requests

On December 04, 2009

You get a friend request from some guy you don’t know. But since you have “mutual friends”, are you adding him or not?

It’s probably natural instinct among us that dictates how we don’t want to hurt other people’s feelings by rejecting their friend requests. This is why a lot of us plead guilty to adding people in Facebook even if we don’t really know them. The thought of accepting friend requests from your sister’s friend from wherever, or your best friend’s former classmate may seem innocent at first until you realize…

• Your homepage is flooded with updates from strangers.
• You feel obliged to join groups because you keep getting requests about it no matter how many times you’ve refused to join.
• You feel harassed by some (perverted) posts (sometimes even in your wall by some stranger) and you wonder why in the world it's there.
  
• You found out from someone that some people are judging you based on your jokes meant only for close friends and family who knows how harmless you are and that you’re just being silly.
• The whole thing no longer serves the purpose why you created an account in the first place.

An office mate once questioned me if I was mocking her for joining a group in Facebook called “No, I Don't Care If I Die At 12AM; I Refuse To Pass On Your Chain Letter!”. I realized later on that 70% of the chain mails in my junk folder were coming from her. Some things may be funny to you, but to people who don’t know you personally won’t always understand and will find it offensive.

Some people even get fired at work for silly things they post in Facebook which their bosses didn’t like.

Well, after that incident with the sensitive, chain-letter-lovin’ coworker, I prefer not to join any Facebook groups anymore. If small, petty things can be so divisive, there’s no wonder why the constant war in this hostile planet. Geez.

That is why starting today, I’ve decided to keep only a circle of people who really knows me and vice versa; which I think ordinary, non-celebrities like I, should try practicing for safety precaution.

If someone didn’t accept your friend request or if you get deleted from someone’s account, spare yourself and don’t take it personally. If I get rejected, it would be totally fine with me because I don’t live in fairy tales. I respect the fact that everyone’s entitled to their own rights. It’s all a matter of respecting others’ decision and privacy so there’s no need to over-analyze. Unless of course if the one who closed doors on you is your boyfriend or girlfriend, family, or closest friend, logically that’s when you should worry. Otherwise, keep it cool… and please, if time comes you see each other in person, don’t bring it up. There’s no need.

As always, it’s best to share personal information only to people you can trust and save yourself from more serious problems like identity theft. Hackers love getting inside their prey’s social network because it gains them access to more personal information and other seemingly innocent details. Therefore, set boundaries and perform housekeeping in your social network platform from time to time. 

Have a great day, everyone! God bless.