Who Do You Add On Facebook?

Who do you add on Facebook? You add friends and family members. Who else? Do you add co-workers? Do you add classmates you probably don’t want as friends? Old friends you never see anymore? Do you add friends of friends? Acquaintances like your yoga teacher? Where do you draw the line?

Does a Facebook friendship mean anything? Is it just something polite to do, like a handshake? Does it imply any obligation to get involved in someone’s life? Is it an invitation to yours?

Perhaps it simply says you matter to me. We may not know each other well, but, for however briefly we crossed paths, for however slightly our lives brushed against each other, you had a small impact on my life, and I want to acknowledge that.

Networking can be valuable. Sooner or later, something always comes up that we might need help on. Sometimes we need advice on something. Sometimes we need to know something. Somebody out there might know. If you ask a question, and you have thirty people on your friends list, perhaps you’ll get lucky and someone will know. If you have six hundred people on your friends list, the odds are better that someone will know exactly the answer you’re looking for.

Whatever business or career we may end up in, chances are we will be providing some kind of service to others, either as an independent operator, or through the company that employs us. That means that no matter what else, being on Facebook serves as a de facto advertisement. With six hundred people on our friends list, that’s a lot of potential clients.

I’ll add anyone. You never know, someone completely unexpected may have exactly the right answer, tell you something you never knew, connect you with exactly the right resource, or give you something that might change your life. Stranger things have happened. ☺

Peace,

Dave Roel.

In each person there is a priceless treasure that is in no other.

- Martin Buber