Who are all of those friends on Facebook?

Do you frequent social networking sites like Facebook or Twitter?  A couple of years ago I opened my own Facebook account.  During the last two years I have reconnected with many friends from high school and college.  It has also become a great way to stay in touch with my parents and my sister since we don't get to see each other as often as we would like.  My Mom and Dad love daily updates from our house as well as photos of the kiddos.   This tool has provided us a way to share events and incidents with them they don't get to take part in due to distance.

During my time on Facebook I enjoyed reconnecting with friends from high school and college.  I love learning about their life journeys and their families.  Facebook has become a great way to send out a pray chain for those in need.  It is wonderful to see people respond in such a postive way.  One high school friend shared ministry opportunities.  I really received a blessing when I got to make quilt squares for one of her ministries.  This blessing happened as a result of the Facebook connection.

All of this brings me to something I  have been thinking about a lot during the last year.  There are no official FB rules, but do you have your own?  I had befriended lots of friends, family members and co-workers as of last fall.  At that time something happened to make me re-evaluate my friend acceptance and request.  A person that I had befriended commented on one of my very innocent FB post.  Her comment was not negative or rude, but it made me think about the number of people that I had befriended that never comment or provide status updates.  This person was one of those reading the my post, but never commenting nor posting on her own page.  I now refer to these people as "peepers".  Why set up an account only to read what other people write?    FB is very much like a small town- everyone is connected in so many ways, but if friendships must grow both people must participate.  After this revalation I went home and started deleting "friends" that don't comment.  I am assuming they activated an account, but have decided they don't want to participate-LOL!

Here are a few of my personal Facebook rules:

My FB Rules
1.  Don't befriend people you would not invite for dinner- this doesn't mean you must be really close to them, but instead have enough in common to enjoy each other's company.
2.  Keep it strictly social.
3.  Delete "friends" that don't participate.
4.  If someone comments some people use FB like it is Twitter- delete because there are not rules about how many status updates one can have a day.
5.  If someone comments "she/he is on FB all the time"- delete because they would not know unless they are on just as often (this person is in denial).
6.  Don't FB during work.
7.  Don't FB about work.
8.  No negative or rude comments refering to a person or situation.
9.  Comment or "like" other people's post, pictures and status updates- let them know you are there.
10.  Have fun with it.