After re-reading Monday's post I noticed that I neglected to mention a very pertinent point. Those of us who stalk other people's pictures, whether they be our friends, family or co-workers, are just as bad as the Facebookers who post tons of albums. What makes us worst, is that we care. We care to see what others have posted and we care to stalk the people in the background that we don't even know.
We troll through the millions of albums posted and we become familiar with the friends or acquaintances of our friends, most of whom we have never met. We begin the process with what we see, for example-a trendy girl wearing the latest Halston Heritage top or a cute guy posing w other cuties in University of Miami t-shirts. Side note: a group of guys in plaid is never worth a second glance. Anyway, when we click from picture to picture we keep a mental tab of the names and the faces, all the while we know that we don't actually know these people. But then there comes a point when we begin to confuse Facebook with reality. That leads us to the infamous question that so many of us have found ourselves asking while we are out: Wait-do I know her or do I know her from Facebook?
How many times have I been out and found myself asking that ridiculous question? The answer is more than I care to mention. Here's the thing, I don't really feel that bad because I realized I was not the only one to do this (which is also crazy, I know). We've over-familiarized ourselves with the faces on Facebook that we don't even know and we've genuinely become confused with who we actually have met before and who we have not.
There is something that I find slightly hilarious about this little predicament. I love the awkwardness that ensues when a friend introduces me to someone that I know I recognize from Facebook. I politely say hello, when I really want to shout out, "OMG I know you from Facebook you always wear the cutest Pencey dresses." Advice to all: It is never cool to tell someone you don't know you stalk them on Facebook, it will creep them out while showing how big of a dork you are.
So, how do we distinguish the people we know from the ones we know from Facebook? Your guess is as good as mine. Like you already know, I had to quit Facebook to stop this situation from occuring, and since we already know you aren't going to do that then you better start thinking of something else. Because if the time comes when you are introduced to someone you only know from Facbeook and you accidently say, "Oh yeah it was just your birthday last week!" and you both realize you only know that information from Facebook then you've outed yourself as a stalker and a dork.
