I have been reading quite a few posts about this subject lately. Most posts dealing with the etiquette or fear of friending. Here are my two bits in regards to the friending wave:
Without revealing my age, I must say this friending thing is very difficult to grasp. I am not a real forward person to begin with. But, when I look at the friend stats of some Facebook and other sites, it is overwhelming.
I guess to me the difficult part is my definition of a friend. I think the song You Find Out Who Your Friends Are by Tracy Lawrence (lyrics by Casey Beathard and Ed Hill) spells it out as good as anything I could do:
(Chorus)
You find out who your friends are
Somebody’s gonna drop everything
Run out and crank up their car
Hit the gas, get there fast
Never stop to think ‘what’s in it for me’ or ‘it’s way too far’
They just show on up with their big old heart
You find out who your friends are
I have friends like that in my life, I thank God for them every day and hope they know I would drop everything in a heartbeat if they needed me. I know that everyone out there has their own close orbit of supporters, someone that will do anything, go anywhere, no questions asked.
In my eyes, I think the term acquaintance might be a better fit for the social media. A media friend can be there with words but to be there face to face in person, is doubtful. I realize acquaintance is a much longer word and friending is easier to say than acquaintancing, so who am I to question?!!!
That being said, I would be glad to make your acquaintance and I will try to be a good media friend. ; )