Block That Friendship! I’ve been “blocked” from sending friend requests or private messages. I do not know why this was done, other than some nameless Facebook drone’s telling me, in a box that pops up whenever I try to contact anyone, that “some of your friend requests have gone unanswered or may be unwelcome.” So? How do I, or how can anyone at FB, know that any of those unanswered requests were even seen? Unwelcome? Then just ignore them! A friend request is a silent notification, easily missed, atogether unobtrusive and for all intents and purposes invisible. It’s not like some multi-level-marketing shill calling you up eight times a week to sell you vitamins, cosmetics, or long-term annuity investment packages! The message continues: “Facebook is for staying in touch with people you already know, like family, friends from ‘real life,’ or co-workers.” Since when? Says who? Maybe someone’s decided I have quite enough friends already, thank you? Per standard operating procedure of fascist states, Facebook (or some slithering, oleaginous operative in its employ) has declined to tell me what my “offense” is or who ratted on me. (I have my suspicions: one person I’ll not name accepted my request, and then, after receiving my note of thanks, “unfriended” me and sent a curious reply that gave me to understand that she had construed my “hello” gift (a pen-and-ink drawing of roses in a glass vase) to be an undesired romantic overture. Huh? I send that to EVERYONE—male and female, young and not-so-young, whether they live in Bosphorus, Brooklyn, or Bucharest; Memphis, Moscow, or Moose Jaw. And no, I don’t trawl FB profiles for photos of attractive ladies. Often I’ve never even seen anything other than the tiny thumbnail, if I’ve even seen that much. I do, however, take into account a person’s passions—for music, literature, and ideas—as indicated by profiles, posts, and comments on my and others’ posts.) Many, if not most, of you have received messages from me, as for the past several months I’ve tried to answer everyone who’s accepted my offer of friendship with a personal note of thanks, to which I attach a “hello” gift—sometimes just a link to music that, based on what I know of my new friend’s interests and passions, I think he’ll enjoy; but more often I offer one or another of my drawings. Has any one of you ever received from me anything you’ve found at all disquieting, annoying, or offensive? Has anyone, or anyone you know of, been banned from exercising and enjoying the basic freedoms of choosing your own friends and sharing with them whatever you or they please? Just curious. If what I’ve reported here outrages you as much as it does me, I suggest you copy this “status update” (pardon my Facebookese) to your clipboard (none of that nonsense about cutting-and-pasting and sharing on your own timeline, unless of course you want to) and tuck it away where no one but you will find it. I’ll hazard that these paragraphs won’t remain visible very long.
Posted on: Sun, 30 Mar 2014 17:13:25 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015