Let me ask you: how many friends do you have on Facebook or LinkedIn that you don’t know, have never met, and never talked to?
If I had to guess, I’d bet it’s most of the people on the various sites you’re connected to. I am right?
Well, after several years of social media redirecting and controlling our lives, I think it’s time for some new definitions. Agree, disagree, like, dislike, never mind, I guarantee you the way you define the following has changed over the years. I’ll give you the traditional definition (dictionary) first, they are mine. Feel free to add your own if you’re up for it.
Dude
Traditional: a person you know and with whom you have a bond of mutual affection, normally exclusive of sexual or family relationships.
Mine – Someone who knows you, trusts and supports you, believes in you, is with you through thick and thin, and wants the best for you.
Acquaintance
Traditional: a person whom you know a little, but who is not a close friend.
Mine – Someone you’ve connected with at some point in your life and from time to time – reconnected with in some way.
Weird
Traditional: a person whom you do not know or are not familiar with.
Mine – Anyone who crosses your path – at an airport, restaurant, business meeting, on vacation or on a first date and you never see them again.
Associate
Traditional: a partner or colleague in business or at work.
Mine – Someone with whom you have a common and mutual bond, in a professional way.
Access
Traditional: a relationship in which one person, thing, or idea is linked or associated with something else.
Mine: Anyone you know that you have something in common with and develop this in a mutually positive way as time goes on.
Foreign
Traditional – a person born in or coming from a country other than their own.
Mine: Anyone who is not from the country you are currently in, whether they are visiting, on vacation, running away from home, or looking for a new or different adventure.
Immigrant
Traditional – a person from one country who comes to live permanently in a different or foreign country where they were not born or were a legal resident.
Mine: I agree with this one.
I am sure that some of you might disagree with some of my definitions and that is your prerogative. The only reason I’m writing this is to ask you how many so-called social media friends you know or who knows you. So, Tim, what’s your point?
No disrespect to anyone, but on a recent birthday I received over 300 birthday wishes from strangers on social media (called friends) and I personally knew 12 of them. One of my social media “friends” has over 495 photos on his social media account. I see people going out of their way every day to keep us all informed of their lives as they go from day to day. One person every day for a week complained about how she had been dumped in a relationship. Does your world of “friends” need to know? Do most of them really care?
Who has time for this, to list or look at them? And we wonder why we have lost the “human touch” in relationships. I am in no way suggesting that all or any social media sources, everyone on them, or those who use them for personal or commercial gain are of no value or use. I’m sure many people gained fame, recognition, made new “real” friends, earned legitimate income, and many other benefits or positive results.
My only point with this article is to bring some reality (from my unique perspective: not saying I’m right and everyone else is wrong) to this process or definition of words we call “friends” etc.
I’m sure some of you who have finished reading this article may disagree with some of my comments and are defining me as: “out of touch, indifferent, unsupportive, irresponsible, stupid, etc.” I’m guilty. I have no idea why I have over 4,500 friends on FB and over 2,500 connections on LinkedIn, but I do know this: most of them don’t give a damn about my life’s circumstances, problems, challenges, or problems. what I had for dinner last night.
Many words today are used and interpreted differently than they were in the past and if this process continues to change even more in the future (and believe me it will), at some point we will all need to carry a personal amogie and/or a dictionary of words with us at all times so that we know what people say, imply or mean. We (most of us) are letting social media dictate and control many aspects of our lives, starting with how we define basic words. This my friends is a very slippery slope…