Facebook is my space. No, not MySpace. My. Space. And I should be able to use it however I please without being judged or ridiculed. I shouldn't be made to feel guilty about who I choose to be friends with on there and who I don't and the reasons why. And while others don't have to agree with my decisions, they do have to respect my right to make my own decisions.
One of my own personal Facebook "policies", if you will, is "Just because I know you doesn't mean I have to be friends with you". In other words, just because we work together or went to school together, or you are family or somehow connected or related to someone I know, doesn't mean we have to be "friends". So, if you fall into one of or more of the following categories, I see no reason for you to be in my personal space on Facebook:
1.You're never on. The occasional Facebook user doesn't realize that they are putting their friends at risk should their account get hacked or spammed. I'm sorry but I don't need my personal information compromised because you can't stay on top of your account.
2. We don't interact. The purpose of Facebook is to stay connected to people. If we aren't staying connected then we don't need to be connected.
3. You're my ex. Ex-friend, ex-boyfriend, ex-guy-I-used-to-be-interested-in, whatever. You're an ex for a reason. No need to keep my past in my present.
4. You only acknowledge me when I post something bad. I shouldn't have to hide my feelings from my true friends who will be there for me in order to hide them from you who gets joy out of my misery.
5. If you are not part of my real world life, you don't have to be part of my online one. If we hardly know each other, don't see each other, and don't talk to each other outside of Facebook, what kind of relationship could we possibly have on it? (See #2)
And so you see, I have real reasons why I do what I do on Facebook. It's not "just because".
