There is a SERIOUS and GROWING issue among us here in Facebookland. There are those of you who simply can't stand being removed as a friend from someone's Facebook Friend List. The fact is, nothing in your life is going to fall apart if someone decides they no longer want to be connected to you and if it does, then you had issues before, and unrelated to that person. For you to stalk, lurk, and find any and every means by which to get the party who deleted you to notice you is not only disturbing, it's quite sad and says that you've invested far too much of yourself into this world of social networking. What you suffer from is something I like to call PTDS (post traumatic delete syndrome). This is a disorder that is quite embarrassing even if you don't recognize it. There are side effects of this disorder are mind altering and distorts ones view of reality. The side effects are as follows:
Delusion- This is typically a coping mechanism used by disgruntled Facebookers. They have delusions of being too real, too honest, too beautiful, intimidating, or magnificent. They convince themselves that there was something so amazing about them that you simply couldn't take being acquainted with them any longer so you decided to delete them.
Obsession- Ah yes, the obsession side effect is a most frightening one. This is where the removed Facebooker strolls your page (if it happens to be public) and follows your activity by way of your mutual friends pages. They burst on to threads with volatile, sarcastic commentary, or they do something, anything that will ensure that you see them and hopefully acknowledge their presence. They will slander you openly, subliminally, or cosign the slanderous antics of another all for the sake of letting you know that they're see you, and are watching you. They will inbox you hate speech and insults or passively aggressively do so by way of their status messages. Scary, isn't it?
The Last Word and block- This is when the disgruntled Facebooker in an effort to take one last stab at you, goes to your inbox and spews negative verbiage with the hopes that you'll read it, then block you so you can't respond. This is a cowardly way of getting the last word minus a response.
Jealousy- They become jealous of those whom you still have as friends and/or those who agree with you and begin to insult them. They will refer to them as sheep, boot lickers, cheerleaders, ass kissers, fans, and entourage. Meanwhile, it was alright when they agreed with just about every status.
Memory Loss- This happens when you're dealing with a Facebooker who manages to forget all of their flowery, poetic, love filled, religious, and humanitarian quotes by public figures such as Ghandi, Martin Luther King, Elijah Muhammad, Minister Farrakhan, or those that they may have created themselves. They also forget their religious affiliation and behave totally contrary to it. PTDS has a tendency to cloud ones thinking and the end result is memory loss.
Once we're able to recognize PTDS (Post Traumatic Delete Syndrome), we will able to:
A. Keep from developing it
B. Deal with it when we see it
C. Approach it from an angle of understanding, and possibly offer sound solutions to the problem
D. Recognize it and eradicate it within ourselves
My advice for those who currently suffer from this disorder, know and understand that Facebook is a place of free will to a large degree. People may delete you for a myriad of reasons. That however shouldn't cause you to behave in an unsavory manner nor do you have to become so consumed by your Facebook contacts, especially if you haven't formally had the opportunity to meet with them. No one should have that kind of control over you, require that kind of energy, and occupy that degree of space in your mind. There is life during, after, and beyond Facebook if you go out and get it. Someone deleting you from their friend list should NOT be the end of your world.
So in summation...DON'T BE A CRAZY ASS!
Signed:
Sane Facebook Users
