The Facebook Deletion Taboo

Maybe you did it in a fit of rage. Maybe you had one too many rum and Cokes. Maybe you were unsure what the side effects of blocking a person were. At any rate, it's safe to say that Facebook friend deletion has become the new social taboo of our generation. Not only does it signify the end of secretly stalking that person (which, by the way, both women AND men are guilty of...just ask if the title "Undie Run Album" means anything to them), but quite possibly the end of your friendship in real life. There's nothing like sitting down at your computer with your daily bowl of Cheerios in front of you, only to realize that you've been brutally deleted from someone's life. When did social networking replace actual human interaction? Why have Facebook relationships replaced those based in reality?

Facebook has become a means of legitimizing our rung on the social ladder. After all, what's more exciting about getting a new beau--the fact that you have a boyfriend, or the fact that you get to declare it to 35 million people via your relationship status? Posting photos is not just an easy way to share pictures with friends, but a prime opportunity to sell yourself to thousands of horny undergrad males just dying to show off albums of you in your underwear to their friends.

Yet again I'm being entirely hypocritical, for not only do I post obscene amounts of photos, I also committed the taboo. I deleted someone off Facebook. Admittedly this was done under the influence of alcohol, but I don't use that as an excuse, simply an explanation. However stupid and childish it may have been, I never expected the reaction that this friend deletion garnered, and it's made me think about the values we place on Facebook relationships over real ones. Does it honestly matter if we're friends on cyberspace if we're friends in real life? I didn't think so.

Ultimately, I realized I made a mistake and re added my friend, but imagine my dismay when I learned they had rejected my request! If Facebook has truly replaced the actual ties of friendship with another person, then maybe it's for the best...after all, I have 871 more people on my friends list to keep me company.