It's nice, though the problem is all the friend requests. I have something like 20 waiting for me. Scared that I'm going to get locked out again if I just start adding people willy-nilly, I'm adding one a day. I might get daring and add two, just to really push my luck.
There are rules to my accepting friend requests. We must know each other, and have interacted offline (specifically off Facebook) reasonably often. And I must like you. If we're not friends in real life, we're not going to be Facebook friends. There are a couple of reasons for this. The first is that I want to reduce the amount of white noise and social clutter I'm carrying around with me. I've been finding it very difficult to focus of late, and this is part of the problem. The second is that really it just comes down to time and emotional availability. I don't have time for everyone. I barely have time for me. So I'm being very selective about who gets my time both online and off. I'm not going to be friending friends of friends.
I understand that this is, for some reason, an online social faux pas. It is somehow considered a slight. I have no idea why you would want to bother with the online life of people you never see, let alone chat to, and couldn't pick out of a crowd. I don't know why it's insulting if someone you don't actually know doesn't accept a friend request on some platform. That's a rant for a different day. What I'm trying to say is, I understand that this is considered wrong for social interactions online, but I'm so tired of it all, I don't really care.
I have to start taking care of me, or the whole thing will come crashing down.
I'm reticent to add anyone at all. I will probably be checking my timeline, but I will not be interacting on there save for in a professional capacity, including the organisation of the various projects I am involved with. If I have anything to say, I will be emailing, texting or calling. Still, it is painfully useful for keeping abreast of everyone in my life (damn it), so there are benefits to adding friends.
If you're not in my immediate social or professional circle, but would still love to interact with me, I created The S.M. Carrière Facebook Café for just such a purpose. That is where I will be living on Facebook (and my pages, of course).
So, if you're my actual friend and reading this, I promise I haven't ignored your friend request. It's just going to take me a bit to get around to accepting the request, because I don't want to be locked out!
If you're not my real life friend, I'm sorry, I won't be accepting your request. It's not fair to the people I should be keeping up with, and it's not fair to myself.
Sound fair? (It doesn't matter if it doesn't)
CIao!