*WARNING* This post may offend you. Read at your own risk.

Social Networking Sites/Online Messenger Programs.

There are so many ways to stay connected these days, and finding friends/family to network with can be very exciting. I personally use only Facebook and Yahoo Chat (besides the obvious blog...but you already knew that one), and I enjoy creating witty status updates, quoting people, commenting on others' status updates, sharing pictures, or just blabbing about what is going on during the day.I have over 250 "friends" on Facebook comprised of family members both here and far away, close friends both past and present, as well as people that I just consider to be acquaintances. I love to see my elementary classmates all grown up with families of their own. It's fun to read what other mommies are doing on a daily basis, too.What an amazing thing the internet can be!

Unfortunately, many people take these sites too seriously. Let me just say from the get-go: FACEBOOK IS NOT MY REALITY.

Yes, as much as I am on there, if you were on my friends list, you would probably tend to think otherwise. I wouldn't blame you. Let me say this: if you don't like my status update, then ignore it. If I have posted something religious/political on my wall that offends you, too bad. If the pictures of myself or my family give you a reason to gossip, that's your problem.
Do you get the point here?!?

Now, I'm not saying all of this to just come off as completely negative. There have been plenty of times I disagreed with things I saw on Facebook. I also laugh my butt off at some of the characters that are on there on a daily basis. It's interaction---virtual interaction---and it in no way defines us as humans. You can't understand my personality and heart just from what I write on a public forum, and I can't expect to understand you from only that information either.

The one thing that bothers me about Facebook (and let me say, I'm using FB as my example because I have had the most discussions with others about what goes on there) is how much UNFRIENDING there is. Did you know that "unfriend" was Webster's Dictionary's new word for 2009, just because of Facebook? Amazing.
Anywho, if I choose to unfriend someone, or they choose to unfriend me, there are always hurt feelings involved. Why is that? It's not our reality. Or has it become that? We all want to be liked, and unfriending is like the worst blow a person could receive to his or her ego. Funny how that works. And I got over that a long time ago, just so you know.
Others use FB as a way to show off or flaunt their "perfect lives" in the faces of others. I can't stand that either. Be real, people. IT'S A STATUS UPDATE. That's it. End of story. I get that you think your life is far superior to mine, but not everyone in virtual world needs to feel belittled because you are insecure about your "perfect life." Then there are those that choose to sit back and judge their "friends." What good is that going to do? I'm just sayin'...

For me, there ARE good things that have come from Facebook. For instance, I had a sweet woman named Abigail message me on FB one day. She and I have a mutual friend, and she was curious as to how I knew this person. She also saw my postings on the friend's wall and thought she and I might have more things in common than we knew. She lives in another state. I had never met her. We became friends, started talking back and forth, and I began to buy jewelry from her (she started her own business and I LOVE to support women who do so). We hit it off beautifully. The one thing I was sad about was that we had not met in real life.

God changed that a few days ago.

As I was leaving Wal-Mart, a couple coming in caught my eye. The woman--I knew her. But how? WAIT! I know! It's Abigail!! Holy cow!!!
I rushed back in and walked up to her boldly. When she turned around and realized who I was, we both screamed and hugged. It was so wonderful to hug her neck and hear her voice in real life. She is such a beautiful person!

That is just one of the ways social networking sites can be fun. Meeting new people and having the chance to share our lives with one another is a good thing--I'm all for it! I had to change my attitude about FB recently. No more was I going to worry about what my "friends" thought of me. If I pop off with an over-the-top comment, status update, or bantering session back and forth with my husband, it's OKAY. No need to gasp or immediately assume I am a bad person with no Christian values or standards.

For the record, I am a PROUD Christian with values and standards.

If you feel the need to unfriend a person because they are being "too real" for you, that's your choice. I, personally, prefer to see others' lives through just the tiny window we call Facebook (or other sites mentioned above), whether good, bad, or indifferent. Don't spend your life apologizing for being a human being, for we are not required to be perfect 24/7. Whether your skin is white, black, tan, yellow, blue or orange--whether you had a horrible upbringing or were fed with a silver spoon--whether or not you agree with the President, the weather, healthcare reform, certain parenting techniques, environmental issues, or the religion of your neighbor--just be who you are and let others see that.
Allow sites like Facebook to just be that--internet sites--where your only intent is to share your life with others and have them share theirs with you.
Or make it a place where you can show off your new tattoos. *chortle*

"It is easy in the world to live after the world's opinions; it is easy in solitude to live after your own; but the great man is he who in the midst of the crowd keeps with perfect sweetness the independence of solitude." ~Ralph Waldo Emerson

~Mel