Lying on Facebook?

There was an article on Mamamia about lying on Facebook - a practice that I fail to understand the point of. I totally get that when things go south you may choose to become a little quieter, however, to pretend all is grand when it isn't, seems odd, if the people you are talking to are your friends.

I guess for a lot of people, FaceBook is a broadcast, not a conversation. I have a friend, and I send her messages, and she never responds. If I publicly ask questions, I have a better chance of getting an answer, but even then it's slim. It's almost as if she's just after 'likes' to validate her photo.

FaceBook can be great company if you use it as a way to connect with people - not to catch up on their news, necessarily, but to discuss and share things. I guess if you have friended every person you ever met, then it's a little harder. If you've been selective, with just your real friends, then it's easy.

Look at your last post. Did you join in the conversation or did you just let everyone comment on it? I would think, if you actually start engaging, there'll be less lying. You may not say you're feeling down, nor that your marriage is coming apart, but you may not project the 'aren't I fabulous?' routine that FaceBook gets blamed for.

Interestingly, I've become better friends with some friends because of our frequency of chatter on Facebook, and two of my friends, who didn't know each other, have become friends (in real life) after constantly chatting to each other on my page.

That is the benefit of FaceBook. If you're projecting a false image, you're wasting your time. And everyone else's. As I've said before, there is a danger that the more connected we are, the lonelier we are; when really, if we use it right, we should feel comfort that are friends are nearby, a close as our phone.

We're all riding the wave of new social media. We need to make it work for us, not enslave us. If you change your online behaviour, slowly, slowly, so will your friends.