UberNoggin

The Wall Street Journal recently published this article claiming that Facebook might possibly ruin friendships as a result of oversharing. Now, I’m not arguing that you should Twitter or change your FB status for every snack you have, every little odd thought that crosses your mind, or every time you have a malicious thought about a coworker. There is, of course, a filter that we all rely on in conversation to prevent ourselves from blurting out everything that crosses our minds and that should be just as effective in online conversations and status messages.

However, this idea that a few random updates about the status of one’s life might ruin a friendship puts a little too much self-importance on the receiver of those messages. I hear this a lot from people who refuse to use FB or Twitter. They tell me “I don’t care what my friends are eating for lunch”  or “No one is interested enough in my life to want to read what I’m doing right now.” That may be true but there’s another side to the issue. These little friendly, informal personal updates might actually make people feel closer to you. They may make you look like an actual person rather than a soapbox that only spouts big important ideas or personal marketing messages.  When I see a friend face to face who I follow via social media we have much more to talk about because I’m already filled in on their life and I can ask more meaningful questions about how they are. We can skip the fact sharing part of the conversation and actually engage with one another.

Besides, I guess it just makes me a little grumpy to hear complaints about social media that seem so self-centered. If you expect your friends to censor themselves or modify what they want to share just so you won’t feel overwhelmed by information…well let’s just say that the world doesn’t revolve around you. Not every message is aimed at you. Your friends don’t expect you to read and memorize every update that they post. So relax; ignore the updates if they don’t interest you; feel free to skim them rather than letting each one get under your skin.

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