Today, I reconnected on Facebook with someone with whom I went to camp when I was younger. This got me thinking about how we friend, and more importantly, who we friend, on Facebook. I find that if I went to camp with someone (and knew them there and remember them), I’m pretty likely to friend them. Perhaps that is because of the nature of the bonds that form during the intense period that is camp. They were family then, and in some sense, they are still family.
On the other hand, high school folks are a bit different. There are names I recognize, but were never really close with. I tend not to friend them (although I might if they friend me first). I will reach out and friend high school folks that I was either close to in high school, or want to get back in touch with. The sense is completely different with high school — they are family, but they are a much more distant family.
As for college? Well, unless you were in the UCLA computer club or in classes with me (and the former is much more likely), then I probably won’t friend you. UCLA was just too big of a place.
So what is your attitude towards friending on Facebook? Does it differ from your attitude towards friending on Livejournal (as a note: my LJ friends approach is in my profile)?
