bigredmed wrote:Girls make more long term friendships and talk on FB a lot. HS is a good metaphor. From my perspective High School is 4 years of |expletive| that you had to wade through in order to go to college. I was one of the outcasts in school and don't miss these people. I try to establish current era connections, and sometimes it works, other times it seems artificial.
The current teens are into other sites like Snapchat. That is why I think FB is heading for a fall.
I always hear about that Snapchat, but I've never been on it. I think Instagram is fun, as it is a great way to even see daily pictures of different cities and architecture. But, they all take too much of my time. They are distracting...
I know what you mean about current connections. It's not that current people I meet nowadays are somehow more important than people I knew back in HS, it is just new connections aren't a reminder of a time of my life that is long over -- one that isn't healthy to dwell on too much.
I like many people I went to HS with, and think well of them. But, on Facebook, after not seeing any of them for almost 15 years, I was surrounded by them all again online (for almost a decade now). Because of enough commenting & "liking", I was almost fooled on a certain level, like I had relationships with them that were authentic & meaningful -- rooted in the past, with history to them. But, at the end of the day, they aren't "real relationships." (Same with many I went to college with -- people I don't even know all that well.) After the pivotal reunion, we never get together. We never see each other. And, I don't really think any of us really want to. But, we are forced to see each other, and keep in touch, on a surfacy level, at a "safe distance" from each other, on FB. It's kinda weird, actually...
I almost think it can possibly even hinder people from moving on, moving forward (vs. being stuck in the past), and meeting new people.
I'm sorry your high school experience wasn't the best. You know, who really cares about HS. It was only 4 years. It doesn't have to define entire lives. Some people had their "glory years" then, some may have them later. I'm glad it sounds better for you now.
As far as me: I was kind of "everybody's friend" in HS. I'm not cliquey. I was that way through elementary, and then I went on to a new middle school, and was pulled into the "popular group" dating a girl. Suddenly, I was forced to be more stuck-up acting, to be cliquey & exclusive. I even pushed away certain people. Instead of drawing & designing in my room after school (which I always enjoyed), I was suddenly expected at Godfather's Pizza later, or at some party, with the right clothes on, the right hair, the right attitude -- all at just 12 years old. I just didn't like it, so I wiggled my way out of it. Plus, I broke up with that girl, and some of them turned on me anyways... I thought: "NEVER be cliquey again." So, although I had close friends, I went back to being "everybody's friend" overall (everybody & anybody, from the "popular" to the "nerd"), and having my "creative time" alone after school, which was very important to me.
I can get pushed out because I'm "too much" for some. Then, an observer of me comes suddenly swooping in to "fill my shoes." People are always more accepting of the new one, because their feathers aren't truly ruffled by them. (Yawn) I can count on it every time.