Who are they?

How many friends do I have on my facebook? 185.
Do I know all of them? Of course not.



I won't friend any people who are totally strangers to me. Those people I added but I don't know share a common characteristic. They all have one mutual friend with me. I added them because I am afraid I just forget I know them... I have to be honest that I am very absent-minded. It is especially difficult for me to remember people. When I saw someone want to friend me, but I don't know who that person is, I will think "Maybe we have talked before, just I forget that because of my bad memory. It is impolite to not confirm. I better confirm the request."

How many of them do I actually interact with? Less than 20.

I guess facebook is a place for keeping contact. And, I really 'keep' the contacts only. There are nearly 50 primary school classmates in my friend list but I never leave them comments or chat with them. I read most of the news come to the homepage but I think it is strange to comment on the news because I don't have any connections with them in the real world.

How many friends is enough?

When Rodney asked this question in class, I suddenly remember a request from my primary student in the tutorial center I am working at. 'Give me your facebook, ok? I want more friends', she said one day. They are competing with other classmates to see who have more friends on facebook. I think friends on facebook may not be real friends to them at all.

Is the online identity equal to the identity in the real world?



Here is a video I have watched for several times already. I think it is quite funny that the characters are demanding the equivalence between facebook's and real world's identities. People are supposed to be able to create another self online, aren't they? The only reason I can think of is that, when the participants of the facebook largely overlap with those of real life, the flexibility or possibility of creating another self is smaller.