The time was right to reassess my social media world. It’s not like I didn’t anticipate that at some stage my ‘role’ and my opinions and connections would somehow collide. Nevertheless, the feeling of being ‘noticed’, ‘found out’ for my left-leaning views (despite some confusing and unnoticed sharing of the right at times) was a little disconcerting.
So, I commenced a cull.
I imagine I cull in a similar vein to giving myself a haircut – a little here, a little there only to realise things were a bit crooked – a little here, a little there to even things up… A little bit more because the shedding feels good…
Before I knew it I was down 496 ‘friends’ and numerous followers.
In fact, the culling became quite mesmorising, so much so that I didn’t realise I’d actually left the lights on while sitting in my car and the battery flattened leaving me stranded in a parking lot for an hour while waiting for assistance which came in the form of a perfectly collegial and helpful young man (who you’ll be pleased to note I did not add to my friend list).
I culled the people I didn’t like in the real world, the ones with opposing views (my little online echo chamber is very cozy thank you very much), the ones I didn’t know and didn’t really want to meet and the ones who looked like utter wanker tosspots that I’d run from if I was forced to meet. I culled the old school friends who appeared as heinous in their 40s as they were in their teens and the potential clients who turned out to be the folks that constantly screamed their own garbage at me. I culled people who hadn’t used their accounts in the past 12 months and I culled the proud vegans.
As I culled I remembered me the small business owner, the teacher, the coach, the change guru. I breathed through the contempt of the varied existences realising that this cull was long, long overdue.
Something else I remembered as I culled is that I’m much more comfortable in my own skin than I was a year ago and certainly five years ago. I realised that the bumps of life have actually taught me a thing or two and this time not in an “OH MY GOD I’VE HAD AN EPIPHANY THAT I’M GOING TO ADD TO MY COACH TOOLKIT” kinds of way – no… in a smug, I’ve got this, I know I’m going to lose my shit again at some point but then I’ll be OK again kind of life-affirming way (I hope someone else ‘got’ that cluttered statement).
While I see a lot of my Facebook friends on a regular basis, and I’ve re-connected with some of the most marvelous people in recent times I’ve been pretty crap at getting the stories down. As I culled I also realised that I was completely overwhelmed by the enormity of the project.
Culling not only makes the project easier – it also means that my feed is now full of faces I want to see. It’s pretty damn satisfying.
#Meet My Friends is a project and personal challenge that I’ve set for myself to meet all of my 1,266 (now 770) Facebook friends and spend at least half an hour connecting with each and every one of them. The commenced on 17 September 2018 and it has no time limits. The original post outlining the challenge is here
