Facebook...Friendships or Humiliation?

Is Facebook submitting some of its users to personal humiliation? Lately I've noticed on the side column of my Facebook pages, little notices like: Molly Smith has only 4 friends. Suggest more friends for Molly. A photo of Molly is displayed so that the world knows what a pathetic, friendless loser, Miss Molly is. Luckily, I have not seen my own name appear in one of these humiliating notices on my FB page. But I wonder if it's showing up on the Facebook pages of my friends. Although I have a tidy niche of FB pals, frankly I don't want the Facebook people to plaster my picture on its site like some hapless sucker on a wanted poster begging people to befriend me. Nothing like being subjected to worldwide degradation.

Recent statistics reveal that the average FB user has approximately 130 people in their social network with a core of only 5 close friends. Many FB users pad their list and boast massive numbers of cyber acquaintances...adding friends of friends of friends. Recently, I read that you can actually "buy" friends to beef up your FB ego. Yes, that's right...friendships can be bought.  Turns out there's an Australian company that sells Facebook friends ranging in price from $177 for 1000 new buddies to over $1000 for 10,000 BFFs. Facebook users who pay for an extended network of friends often exploit them to sell products or market services to them.

When I first joined Facebook, I thought: Hey this is cool. I can reconnect with old pals and keep updated with friends and relatives. I had no idea it would turn into a competitive numbers game...with people claiming bragging rights to their mountain of FB friends and making me feel like a pitiful, miserable dweeb if I don't have as many as they do. Today, our social standing is commensurate with the number of friends in our Facebook network. I just learned that if you have over 5000 friends in your network, you've attained the premier status of "whale". Well, I can tell you right now, I have not reached the whale category. Not even close. I'm more in league with the sucker fish, the bottom feeders, the pitiful urchins of the sea that float around aimlessly in search of an invite from a friendly school of fish or a poke from Nemo. I just pray that the Facebook company does not single me out for further humiliation by urging people to befriend me. I can do that myself. I'm not too proud to beg...or pay. Hmmm...cash for friends...I wonder if they give an AARP discount.
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