I think most people would agree that a majority of your Facebook friends are more a less what you would call acquaintances 10-15 years ago. These are people you would say hello to and briefly catch up with waiting in line at the Post Office but not necessarily seek out each other's company by 'doing lunch' or meeting for coffee/beers.
For my .02, I don't put to much stock in what people post on Facebook. A good portion of people post only the positive stuff making their life look perfect to the casual onlooker. There have be a couple of studies that concluded the more you use social media the more likely you are to be depressed or harbor negative feelings towards your own life due to most posting an idealized version of their life.
Some people don't post negative stuff because they don't want to be judged as an attention seeker or drama queen. Some people are drama queens and call people out on the sly. Anyone who has been following the conversations knows exactly who they're talking about but they won't actually call the person out. It can be very entertaining on boring winter evening.
I have a love/hate relationship with Facebook:
- I love seeing updates and pictures of second cousins' kids who I probably wouldn't otherwise see. Same with other family who are strewn across the country. We aren't very close but Facebook enables us to keep up with each others lives and say a quick hello to each other once in a while.
- It's fun to see high school acquaintances starting/growing their families and careers.
- It's cool to see a member of ODJT get a positive review on their business or personal page.
- It's neat to see people who do the same type of work I do talking about new technologies or getting an exciting gig.
- It's neat to catch up with one of your favorite elementary school teachers and talk them as an adult.
- It's just as neat talking to your middle school lunch lady who you always remembered for being kind to you.
- I hate some of the pettiness and drama that goes on and usually remove people from my feed who show a propensity for drama but will click over to their wall if I'm exceptionally bored/need some cheap Jerry Springer style entertainment.
- I hate feeling that I sometimes have to censor myself due to who is on my friends list and may potentially be offended.
- I hate myself for looking up an ex and chuckling when I see she's still playing the same games she was with me and thus is in the same position with another guy who is stupid enough to put up with chit.
- I also hate myself for looking up an old high school crush to see she has 3 kids with three different "baby daddies" and thinking yup we all knew how that was going to turn out.
At the end of the day like anything else in life it's what you make of it.