Writes Liz in Dublin: “I’m submitting a message I received via Facebook to show that while Facebook is a great place to reconnect with old friends, it is an even better place to reopen decade-old wounds of teenage angst.”
Explains Liz: “The e-mailer and I never spoke in high school, and I thought it was odd that she added me as a friend on Facebook in the first place. In the spirit of being nice, I added her back, kept her on for few days (I figured she just wanted to see my pictures) and then removed her. That was about two months ago, so it’s interesting that she’s bringing it up now.”
Meanwhile, Michael in Lexington, Kentucky received a similarly out-of-the-blue message from an old high school “friend” he hadn’t heard from in about ten years. “To be honest,” says Michael, “I’m not sure what ‘ties’ she’s referring to.”
related: tant pis, mon amie
extra credit: 30 rock “reunion” [hulu]
147 responses so far ↓
#1
Mishee
*sigh*
I hate Facebook Friday almost as much as I hate it when RunBarbara brings out the liquid latex and the myriad of lit candles.
How much melted wax does it take to cover a grown woman, you ask? You don’t want to know… And, why does she need it topped off with the liquid latex? Believe me, you really don’t want to know!!
*shudder*
Jan 9, 2009 at 10:03 am rating: 7
#2
Ti O
Does there need to be any more proof that Facebook is mainly for crybaby fucktards?
Jan 9, 2009 at 10:17 am rating: 14
#3
Frankie
Thanks for ruining my life when we were in highschool! Sure, it’s probably a wee bit immature to continue blaming you for all of current short comings and failures in the “making friends” department, but you were the one that talked “mad trash” thereby obliterating any chance for me to get people to like me based on my honest personality. Douche Tard!
Jan 9, 2009 at 10:20 am rating: 38
#4
tinkerbell2
hmm.. so Michael isn’t sure what the ‘ties’ were, but doesn’t deny talking the ‘mad trash’..?
*strokes chin pensively*
Jan 9, 2009 at 10:30 am rating: 10
#5
pry
liz, just don’t add someone as a friend if you don’t want to be their friend. you’re playing facebook games, dear.
Jan 9, 2009 at 10:36 am rating: 23
#6
Joseph L. Harris, Sr.
Maybe it’s just me, but the middle line of text in the final response in the last image looks a lot sharper than the rest. Crappy Photoshop to change the content?
Jan 9, 2009 at 10:37 am rating: 3
#7
aaa
Yeah, I guess you should get over how “poorly” people treated you ten years ago considering your “mutual ties” only consisted of you stalking Michael’s friends and the “talking mad trash” was only Michael telling them to call the police next time you showed up on their doorstep naked with a knife and a dozen roses.
Jan 9, 2009 at 10:55 am rating: 20
#8
T.U.M.
“Hannibal, that crazy foo’ talkin’ mad trash again!”
Jan 9, 2009 at 10:58 am rating: 7
#9
Bunnee
Damn, that Liza sure has a difficult time with friends and roommates! Oh, wait….
Jan 9, 2009 at 11:10 am rating: 5
#10
desiree
whenever i spend too much time on facebook, i end up having dreams that i see everyone i did not talk to in high school. usually they’re really tall. but yes, i agree that static-screen-picture girl does need to get over it. and probably needs to get over a few other things as well.
Jan 9, 2009 at 11:11 am rating: 2
#11
TPS
God, I love Facebook drama.
Jan 9, 2009 at 11:17 am rating: 2
#12
leftfoot
… another reason why I’ll never get another facebook (or myspace) account.
Jan 9, 2009 at 11:30 am rating: 2
#13
Jinx
I don’t care what anyone says. The first girl seems like a megabitch and a shit stirrer. While girl two seems cool and the type who’s blunt and tells it like it is now because she had no friends in high schoo l (Now, we know why! LOL). I’m sick of people adding people they hated in school and haboring resentments and hate. Anyways, the behavior in the first exampe = passive aggressive. Where as the person who got bitched out (in a no PA way) is being passive aggressive by not knowing what to say and posting it here.
Jan 9, 2009 at 11:38 am rating: 1
#14
Juliet
I love Facebook Fridays! I love how no matter how old people get, the drama is still the same.
Jan 9, 2009 at 11:58 am rating: 3
#15
PennyKarma
I have a dingbat in my life who loves to headline her MySpace page with whatever she’s doing this week with the one guy most despised by her former boyfriend (who left her for me, for all intents and purposes). It tickles me.
Jan 9, 2009 at 12:02 pm rating: 0
#16
Lose That Girl
Some people just loved high school so much, they just continue on with the nonsense. Too bad the FB school friends didn’t come face to face at a reunion. I doubt they’d be so bitchy to one another in person.
Jan 9, 2009 at 12:09 pm rating: 6
#17
Andy
Sandal wearing feet are notoriously full of self-doubt. Of course they wouldn’t be sure how to respond to that.
Jan 9, 2009 at 12:16 pm rating: 3
#18
JoelWhy
I checked my Facebook account this morning, and one of the updates for a friend has the dreaded “xxxx went from being ‘in a relationship’ to ‘single.’” updated. How sad. Sad in so many ways…
Jan 9, 2009 at 12:20 pm rating: 0
#19
Laura
I noticed my friend count decrease by one the other day. I shrugged and got on with life.
I wish I had as much stamina as Liz’s “friend” to trawl through and work out exactly who it was and make them pay God Damn It!
(BTW, Mishee I love you. And your Mum).
Jan 9, 2009 at 1:04 pm rating: 12
#20
thrall38
Thank goodness she’s not super-offended or anything. Perhaps that could be rectified? It seems a waste…
Jan 9, 2009 at 1:11 pm rating: 0
#21
thrall38
Thank goodness she’s not super-offended or anything. Perhaps that could be rectified? It seems a shame…
Jan 9, 2009 at 1:12 pm rating: 0
#22
Franklin
This could be easily prevented by blocking users rather than deleting. When you block someone, it removes them from your friends list, and it also makes it impossible for them to find you or contact you through Facebook again. That way, they’ll just think you’ve deleted your account. It’s the ultimate passive way to get rid of people you don’t really ever want to interact with again.
Jan 9, 2009 at 1:28 pm rating: 3
#23
W
Well, as far as Facebook is concerned, I believe most users are guilty of some “passive-aggressiveness”, no?
Asking a friend you’ve drifted away from to add you on his “list” and then not saying a single thing ? Childishly toying with the “wall” (look! I keep notifications of all “new friends” but deleted yours, despite the fact I was the one requesting to begin with!). And generally reliving high school.
It is almost impossible to avoid some of this silliness, but in my humble opinion, it is sometimes even worth it, for the possibility of reconnecting with those few people who actually _do_ like eachother and _honestly_ lost track of one another over the years (yes, it does happen, especially for those of us who went to school before the ubiquity of im, email and cellphone).
Jan 9, 2009 at 1:35 pm rating: 1
#24
claw71
COOL 101
Lesson 1: Don’t act like you need friends. Cool people have friends but don’t need them.
Lesson 2: If one of your friends does something unfriendly or disrespectful, don’t say anything…just act like it didn’t happen. Cool people rarely notice such things because they’re far too busy and important to devote their attention to little things. Even if a cool person has a slight pointed out to them, they’ll always assume that it wasn’t intended because they’re just too cool to snub on purpose.
Lesson 3: Cool people never retaliate. If an alleged friend consistently lets them down they nonchalantly sever ties with them. There’s no need to tell somebody that you aren’t their friend anymore if you’re cool because they’ll surely feel the sudden lack of coolness in their life.
Lesson 4: Cool people don’t do FaceBook. They might set up an account, but they are far too cool to check it daily and they never do silly things like status updates or deleting friends. A cool person adds friends, after a prolonged waiting period, as a favor but they never delete friends because they don’t value their list enough to perform maintenance on it. A truly cool person’s status is, obviously, cool but a truly cool person never has to tell people.
Jan 9, 2009 at 1:50 pm rating: 18
#25
Zibba
We should be helping Michael come up with a response … maybe the following?
“You really shouldn’t bother yourself trying to get over how poorly I treated you and I’m really glad you appreciate my work. You won’t mind me forwarding this to all your “friends” on Facebook, right?”
Jan 9, 2009 at 1:52 pm rating: 1
#26
GhostWriter
…but –out of curiosity –why is Tila Tequila still on your friend list?
Jan 9, 2009 at 2:36 pm rating: 7
#27
Dina
I’ve actually been messaging all of the people from high school that weren’t exactly “friends”, but have friended me recently. I basically ask them why they wanted to reconnect (in a perfectly innocuous way, of course), and if they respond, they get to stay. If not, they get deleted. If you can’t even respond to a simple message, and I have no fond memories of you, why even bother?
Jan 9, 2009 at 3:05 pm rating: 4
#28
You Suck at Craigslist
Step 1: Get tons of friends on Facebook.
Step 2: ????
Step 3: Profit!
Jan 9, 2009 at 3:38 pm rating: 12
#29
mamason
I would never open a facebook or myspace account. The risk of rejection is bad enough but the possibility of not even being acknowledged is the stuff of nightmares. To actually be deleted *shudder* would send me over the edge and I’m not going back to jail.
Worrying about the little +’s here is almost more than I can bear.
Jan 9, 2009 at 6:23 pm rating: 20
#30
teeg
I confess I would take great delight in NOT adding a certain HS school buddy if she were to ask me to be her FB friend. Or in adding her and then pointedly deleting her. Old grudges die hard.
Jan 9, 2009 at 6:32 pm rating: 1
#31
Canthz_B
I’m having trouble believing that Michael, a.k.a. Jesus on a bathroom scale, talked mad trash about anyone.
Jan 9, 2009 at 9:49 pm rating: 4
#32
Canthz_B
Chick #1: “I’m not super-offended or anything…If I were I’d burn your house down with you and your family inside!
But, Ya’see? It’s all good. I’m just going to feel inferior to all of your other friends on a publicly viewed website. SO THERE! SEE HOW YOU LIKE THAT!!!!”
Jan 10, 2009 at 2:37 am rating: 1
#33
Tiny Buddha
Facebook for the socially inept. Why would you accept a friend you didn’t really know or like anyway? There is no cure for being an asshole and if they were one 16 years ago chances are they’re one today and if you’re bleedin’ lucky they probably even bred and have they’re own little assholes running around to tell you about.
Jan 10, 2009 at 2:49 pm rating: 1
#34
Agent Inspired
I limit my friends’ list to people I actually want to keep in touch with. I have a few that are still there because I am too polite to delete them, but they won’t be there forever.
I block those I don’t want to find me, and I’ve set my privacy up so that I can’t be searched for, thus avoiding much facebook drama.
For days when I miss that drama, I visit PAN.com
Jan 10, 2009 at 6:20 pm rating: 3
#35
Harris Bloom
What is this facebook you all speak so highly of?
Jan 11, 2009 at 12:12 am rating: 2
#36
erin
k, but srsly, there are some people who I don’t even remember from high school who add me as friends and people who I remember to be serious snobs who all of a sudden want to be BFFs with me. I left high school for a reason.
Jan 11, 2009 at 1:14 am rating: 0
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