"If we ever forget that we're one nation under God, then we will be a nation gone under." - Ronald Reagan

Wednesday, February 18, 2009

Poke, Poke, You Owe Me A Coke

I caved. I succumbed. I buckled. I turned to the Dark Side. I gave in to the peer pressure. I...really need to give the thesaurus a rest.

I joined Facebook. It was inevitable, really. About once a week I'd get an invite from a friend to join, but I deleted them. I just didn't need one more thing to do on the computer. It was already sucking the soul out of my free time. Resistance was futile, apparently, because I signed up a week ago and have rarely left my chair since.

In the course of a week, I've reconnected with friends from elementary school, seen pictures of kiddos, cried over deaths, dodged ex-boyfriends and laughed at what has happened to the "popular" girls from high school. It's definitely been more than I expected. And I've discovered I am just as clueless on Facebook as I am in real life.

Most people have a rule about who they will ignore and who they will accept when it comes to the ex relationships. And I kid you not - the day after I joined, I had a friend request from an ex. Crud. Should I accept? Should I ignore? Should I delete my account and pretend like it never happened? I was completely unprepared. The turmoil!

And it's not just the ex-boyfriends that keep appearing. Apparently, there are these applications on Facebook where you can send virtual stuff to your friends to annoy them show them you care. There's all sorts of items from expensive things they'll never really own to virtual affection. I even got chocolate. But I tell ya, Facebook chocolate isn't nearly as satisfying as the real thing.

But what, dear friends, is with the poking? I've been poked repeatedly and I'm not sure if I'm supposed to poke back or contact my local authorities. What is a poke? Are they trying to wake me up ('cuz I got a baby that's pretty good at doing that)? Is this like what you do to a weird-looking bug to see if it'll move? Maybe I should change my profile picture...

Do you have rules about friend requests from your exes?

28 comments:

Kristina P. said...

I barely understand anything with Facebook. And I have no idea what poking is.

Diane said...

If you figure it out will you let me know?

Melanie Jacobson said...

Yeah, I don't what poking is. As for exes, I have a couple on there (and the brothers of exes on there) and I just tell my husband. I don't look them up but if they ask, I say sure. I don't care. If I did, I would have married one of them. My husband kinda sees it the same way.

Kathy P said...

Cute post! I just set my FB settings to ignore all requests, pokes etc... except friend requests. I don't mind finding old flames... they usually are friends with someone I really want to get in touch with.

Thanks for stopping by my blog... Yours is cute!

Nat said...

Ha ha ha!
I gave up on Facebook when an old "friend" asked if I would meet him when the hubs was out of town. Apparently he wasn't interested in just staying friends.

Jillybean said...

I think you're supposed to kick and scream when poked. At least that's what my kids do when I try to wake them up in the morning by poking them.

I'm not on Facebook.

Me (aka Danielle) said...

I can't remember which blog I read it on..but I think 'poking' is supposed to be a good thing! I think its like nudging someone to say 'Hi'. Why we can't just type 'hi' is beyond me..

I know I declared Facebook Schmacebook a while back. I am tempted to get back on there..then I hear stories like yours...I don't really have any desire to connect with some people in my past. That is why they are 'my past'. Such drama!

Bonnie the Boss said...

I need a FB intervention. Saying that, I also have no ex's so it isn't a problem. I have never poked anyone and never do the gift, application, request things. So I am a FB tard, but I love it!

Kristie said...

I have no idea what poking is either. Or most of the other things on their either for that matter!! :) I just mainly went on there to reconnect with old friends. As far as the ex thing, I don't ever accept. I had a friend in FL, I kid you not, who decided to just write back an email to an old ex, and it turned into a whole drama thing that would have been a great day time drama!! It ended up that she went back with the ex, and broke up her whole family of a bunch of kids!! Who wants that drama. I just stay as far away from that as I possibly can!!! I have a wonderfully happy life and want it to stay that way!!!!! :D No one is immune to temptations.

Amanda said...

I have not buckled under pressure! I will not join:) I don't have time...and I figure if I already don't keep up with them...then I don't need to. My life does not need one more cyber relationship:)

Amber said...

This is great:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=07Ndh2y0m8E

'you've been poked' (ouch!)

Jo said...

I am guessing being young must be a part of ex turmoil. At my age, I wouldn't care if any of my "ex"s wanted to friend me. I will be sure and poke you today! bwaaahaahaaa!

Rupper Family said...

I'm glad you're busily wasting your time on facebook too. I'll admit I've looked up old flames to see how bald or fat they are now. Haven't tried to reconnect though. The thing that peeves me more is when you accept a friend on there who you aren't really great friends with and you keep keep getting updates and realize that you never really liked them in the first place. Can you dump them off? Will it post to their account? It's all too public...but still so addicting!

Jessica said...

I have no idea. I'm not on FB but starting to feel the pressure. I can barely keep up with my current cyber relationships. Add another might put me over the edge.

Kelly said...

First off, as Brett's shirt says..."Welcome to the Dark Side, we have cookies -V"

Umm the only person I poke is my hubby, I wasn't sure exactaly what it is or if it has a counter to it. For exes, heck no, I don't really care to reconnect with any of them. I need to get back on Mafia Wars and level up, you have past me my dear.

Janell said...

Poking is the equivalent of saying, "Hey I was thinking about you, or saw you on Facebook today, or wanted to say "hi," or wanted to start a conversation or didn't know how, or miss you, or simply find something you said or did today funny, it's nice to have you around, or I'm glad we're friends, or "Are you alive? Are you dead yet?", or "What's up?", or just appreciate your existence in the world."

Consider it the equivalent of someone smiling at you from across the room. It's hard to say why. Are they flirting? Are they happy to see you? Is there toilet paper stuck to your shoe? So just respond how you normal would. Ignore them, poke 'em back, or stick a, "Hi," on their wall.

Janell said...

Oh, as for the friends rule. If I do admit an ex into my limited group of people, then I put them in a limited-visibility group. They can't see my pictures, my current work information, or really much at all.

My friends rules? I keep 50 friends + family members. I even thing 50 is too high. If I add one friend, one must be deleted. I group these friends into different levels on what they can and can't do and or see on my profile. General groupings are: "ward" "work" "friend of friend" "best friend" "family" "past friend who I am curious about" and "people I worry about having a violent reaction if I delete them as a Facebook friend."

And if I don't communicate with someone for an entire month? They usually get cut.

Tim and Angie said...

Yeah, I'm not sure on the poking either. I think they are just trying to get your attention. I also have friend requests that I'm afraid to ignore or accept, so they are still on my requests list. I like your profile pic, it's cute. Good luck with exploring facebook, I'm still pretty clueless too.

Anonymous said...

LOL yeah I poke my best friend about 90 times a day! You should get a farm on facebook. People can send you cows and chickens and stuff!

Jessica G. said...

Ummmm...I have a farm...I like the cows.

Amanda said...

I love FB but I hate the poking and coffee and flower stuff. I let it all pile up until I have about 100 and then I hit 'ignore all.' LOL I am fixing to ignore my 3rd group of over 100 things.

Tipi said...

Poking: it is like saying "I'm not touching you!"
only not
helpful sis :P


gee and I was feeling all like I had given in to the DarkSide and conformed even more cuz I took cold medicine, but wow
FaceBook?!?
Isn't that like one of those evil satanic places that sucks your soul...

don't think I like cookies that much.

Shauna said...

Hi Q-T! It was so fun to meet you today! I just wish I could have sat by you and got to know you even better :) We should get together again for lunch sometime! You are a sweetheart! ♥ Hugs :)

Luv2run said...

Welcom to facebook!!! :-)

Lady of Perpetual Chaos said...

I have not idea what a poke is either. Some guy that I vaguely remember poked me and I'm at a loss as to what to do. It sounds slightly inappropriate to me... ;o)

Fiauna said...

I DID NOT want to join Facebook, but my sisters begged me and I caved. I regret it now. No ex-boyfriends, but I have found out A LOT--way too much-- about some people I haven't seen since high school, and even some family members.

Wendy said...

I don't think my ex's want to see me any more than I want to see them.

Daisy said...

I had no idea what a poke was either. But thanks to your trusty readers who are smarter than me, I now know!
Facebook is a HUGE waste of time. And I am totoally addicted! It IS hard to figure out. I try to stay away from the annoying applications and just stick to "productive" things- if that's possible.
My very first ex found me on there. The worst one. The one I've been avoiding since we broke up 11 years ago. It took me four months to approve him and it was a big mistake. He won't leave me alone now! I say ignore the exes! They're exes for a reason right?

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