Monday, January 2, 2012

Facebook Etiquette

A while ago Facebook created a feature that let you just hover over the birthday reminders on the news feed and send a message from there without looking at the person's wall at all.  I was a fan.  The less clicking around the better for me.

I was glad that I wasn't really on facebook the last couple of days because it meant that I didn't hover and type.  My friend Sunshine had a birthday a few days ago.  The same day that her husband and two of her daughters were involved in a car crash that took the life of her oldest daughter.  They were on their way to buy a birthday cake for their Mom.

While I know it's nobody's fault, it is heartbreaking to look at her facebook wall and see all the "Hope your birthday is the best ever!" and "Have a great day, Sunshine!" comments.  Some of them were made before the accident, and several people came back and wrote apologies and condolences on her page afterwards, but there are a slew of messages still there because people just weren't aware and still aren't.

My heart hurts for her and her family.  I keep thinking how next year might be for her.  Will people forget and wish her "the best birthday ever" again because it's just so easy to hover and type without really knowing what's going on in a person's life?

This makes me feel like it's time to winnow my friend list (which I've never done before, I've always felt the more the merrier).  If I don't have time to really have some idea what is going on in the life of a friend, then I don't know that I should be listed as one of their friends.

Here are a few links to articles about the accident for those of you who knew Sunshine but hadn't heard.





1 comment:

Anne Marie said...

So sorry for your friend's loss. That is absolutely tragic. I cannot even imagine the pain.

I still haven't joined Facebook. I am just not sure how to let lots of people back into my daily life.