I wish everyone who sees this a happy, healthy, and prosperous new year in 2026. There are MANY of the 277 "friends" I have on Facebook that only keep me here to enhance their statistics. How many of you have "liked, hearted, cared, etc. one of my status updates in the 2025? Agree or not, how many of you have reached out to me personally? I can honestly count the number on two hands. Do the math... only a third of you (9.23) would fit on two hands.
At some point in this world, I felt enough of a connection to invite you to my "inner network" or you felt compelled to invite me into yours. That's the way it works. A good number of you were industry collegues. Once my usefulness was exhausted, you ghosted me. "He's a nice enough guy, but if he leaves the business, I'll just ignore him." Oh look, he "liked" my family Christmas photo or "thumbs up" my most recent show. Yes, please continue to stroke my ego. I kinda remember who he was, but since he doesn't have any career value to me I don't care.
I get it. I wasn't a "friend," I was an asset. And once an asset has lost it's value, it can be discarded along with the rest of the garbage.
I sometimes feel like I react or comment on social media so often that I might come across as some kind of manic fan girl which isnt a good feeling.
ReplyDeleteI expect the people you refer to still have fond memories and respect for you but struggle to feel relevant.
We justly say so much bad about social media but the way we use it can be quite nuanced
This really hits that weird, lonely part of social media that no one likes to talk about.
ReplyDeleteYou’re absolutely right: at some point every single one of those people felt like enough of a connection to click “Add friend,” and that should mean more than “potential contact I’ll mine until I’m done.” Calling that out doesn’t make you bitter; it makes you honest about what real friendship looks like offline and online.