Article Blog #10

Source: http://www.cnn.com/2009/TECH/science/10/30/online.rejection.defriending/index.html

Support: http://www.mentalhelp.net/poc/view_doc.php?type=doc&id=29104&w=5&cn=1

The article at hand depicts a person’s feelings after being rejected or “defriended” on social networking sites such as Facebook, or Twitter. The article begins with a story of a woman who uses Likedln, a professional social networking site, to extend invites to people who appear to have the same career interest as her. Until one day a woman denied her friend request stating that; “I only connect with people I know, and hopefully our paths will cross one day” (cnn.com). Experts say that rejection on social networking sites is just as painful as rejection face-to-face. The article also explains how some people have a harder time dealing with rejection, or even being the rejecter. Many people find it difficult to defriend a person, while others do it very often with the intention of keeping there “friends list” short, while having friends that they actually talk to. The article has people explaining the importance of having friends that you actually know, as opposed to having a friend of a friend. Limiting your friends will allow you to have stronger relationships with them, and eliminate all those awkward rejections and hurt feelings.

I think that we people should not get too emotional when dealing with online rejections via social networking sites. Some people tend to get very emotional when it comes to being rejected online, while others do not take social networking sites as serious. It is hard to get rejected no matter the situation, and I understand why people get so upset when being defriended or unwanted be another. Rejection can really change a person forever, “Very often, the prior experience of rejection causes people to avoid socializing in the future, avoiding it like the child whose hand has been burned by a hot stove and avoids kitchen all together” (mentalhelp.net). We as a society shouldn’t take this online rejection so personally though, after all, many people are not who they are face-to-face as they are online. Therefore, it may be easier for someone to simply reject a Facebook invite without learning about the person. You don’t need to have 1,000 plus friends on Facebook or Twitter in order to be cool, because as long as you have real friends, numbers don’t matter.