Geeks On Site’s Head of PR is Still Addicted to Facebook…and LOVING it!

Jan. 10, 2011 - PRLog -- When I first joined Facebook for my job, I am Public Relations Director at Geeks On Site, I made a promise to myself. Well, two promises: first I would not friend a person who is not a true friend (or at least an acquaintance who has friend potential), and secondly, I would never embarrass myself (fingers are crossed on this one!) or Geeks On Site.

I rapidly found friends, family, college pals and colleagues I had enjoyed working with both past and present.  I probably communicate more with my mother on FB than I have thru any other means my whole life. Amazing feat for the two of us, as I seem to have inherited her inability to use well all things electronic and Internet related. We have actually been dumbfounded by a fancy microwave once – true story. (Sorry Mom, but we may as well admit it – everybody knows anyway).  As I said in my last article, I fight every day with Windows 7, and Excel scares me (do not let the position I hold in a nationwide computer repair company fool you). So there I was, and I was really happy, talking to all my old friends – I felt so connected – an especially important thing for me as I work in the South American office of Geeks On Site. An awesome company by the way – check us out at geeksonsiteusa.com. (Shameless plug I know, but hey, it’s my job!  And I love what I do - How many of us can say that?)

However, back to my story:  I was happily adding friends, when a weird thing happened - Friends of my friends started requesting to be added as my friend.  Not unusual in and of itself, right?  That is networking at its best.  But I foolishly accepted them, left and right, not even paying attention to who I was adding. My friends were friends with them, so I figured no harm, no foul.  

After a while though, I started getting swamped with messages from people I did not know and had never met (most from the opposite sex, and thank you guys for the compliments, sincerely.)  I started getting “hug requests”, “heart requests”, “smile requests”, you name it, I got it.  I received commentary on my photos, my other friends, my likes, my profile, and on and on.  It was all nice, but it was from strangers, and frankly that started to freak me out a bit.  North Americans are friendly by nature, even with people we have just met, so imagine my dismay when I found myself facing a huge dilemma: I was actually going to have to unfriend people.  

I had not considered that a possibility before, having to remove someone from my FB profile, thinking only high school kids on FB had to worry about that.  Yes, I am that naïve, embarrassing I know!  So, I began slowly working my way thru my list of “friends” and removed those I thought should be off.   At first, I was a bit uncomfortable, especially as a few of these folks I actually do see face to face from time to time.  Luckily we very politely never mentioned “Friend-gate” as I now like to call it, and continue being distant acquaintances and colleagues to this day.  However, I have my profile linked to the company’s business profile, so out of concern and respect for that, and my own tolerance for virtual hugs, kisses and smiles, I did what I had to do.  

Looking back, how did I get into that awkward mess? Well, it was really quite simple.   I am not the only one (comforting thought) who semi-randomly added people because I was wrapped up in the excitement and addictive nature of Facebook. Another interesting thing came to my mind as well: as I watched my friend list approach 90 and then actually shrink to about 70 (I am currently at 71 friends):  I realized if I had 300 “friends” Facebook would probably lose all meaning for me.  It’s like my guest lists for dinner parties – when it loses the intimate feel, and I cannot even recall simple details about a possible guest, I “scratch” them from the list.

The older I get, the more I seek out meaningful experiences, which I want to share with people who actually mean something to me.  I love the fact that Facebook allows me to show my friends and family what I am up to (nothing but trouble, of course!) and I get to see what is happening in their lives as well (minus those of you without the guts to have a “wall” – kidding guys!)  I choose having interesting experiences over appearances – I guess that’s what they call maturity (yes Mom, I have some now!)  In closing, I want you fellow “Facebookers”, to think about why you joined FB, why you added the friends you added, and how maybe your mom was right: it’s not how many friends you have, it’s having true friends that is important.

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