• by kyleen , June 6, 2008

I have bronchitis. I know, this is very sad news. This means that I have to get better because a person doesn't want bronchitis while staying in New York City for the summer. In the meantime, what better way to get better, than to do a little bit of Facebooking and watching TV? I'm going to preface this story by saying that I don't really keep track of Facebook friends. Every once in a while, I'll look someone up for a little bit of friendly stalking, but that is it.

So here I am, sick with bronchitis. I'm looking up different people to see how their summers have been going. I get the urge to look up a person who was on my staff during the school year. I know for a fact we were once Facebook friends, and I thought friends in real life. I type them in the search, and no such luck. She does not automatically appear. I look her up, and she has "de-friended" me.

What does this mean exactly? Could it have been a mistake? I mean, we were co-RAs. How could this be? So, I thought to myself that maybe it was an accident. I decided to click "Add to friends". I proceed to wait a day. It is not showing up on my Mini-Feed. So, I check if it is still in progress. Nope, she declined my friend request.

Here is my question, well I have a few, but what does this mean now? If I see her in person now, do I say "hello"? Are we no longer any type of acquaintance? Do I ignore this person all together when I see them on campus? I know that in the Facebook world we are not friends, but what about real life?

I worry that Facebook is something that is so important to many college-age adults that it is crossing into our actual lives. If we aren't friends on Facebook, that means I do not know you or am friends with you. Maybe I'm taking this a little to personally. However, why would one cancel a friendship even if it was on Facebook? I just want to know the social norms now in real world when it comes to this person. How serious am I to take this "de-friending"?