I've been thinking....
I am very thankful for lots of things. High up on the list, are my friends.
I have many good friends, several great friends, and I have 304 Facebook friends. I'm not sure what exactly a Facebook friend is, but I'm sure that I have 304 of them... because Facebook says so. As far as I can figure, a Facebook friend is someone who has either accepted a request from me, or has sent a request to me which I've accepted. Acceptance of the request connects the two (or 304) of us, and allows us to see what each of us has decided to post up to represent ourselves. We can send each other messages, cyber gifts, play games together, and make comments about each other's... stuff.
Lately I've been wondering how close to friendship Facebook friendship is. I've also been thinking about how much I miss some of the friends and family whose names I have listed as friends, but haven't seen (in person) in years. I've been looking at pages and posts of people that are witty, funny, engaging, endearing, interesting, intelligent, quirky, talented, artistic, and genuinely nice; and I've thought about how some of these people might be cool to hang with.
With these thoughts in mind, I've decided to try and attempt something that will be challenging, but hopefully worthwhile. I'm going to try and meet all of my Facebook friends face to face. I'm hoping that at best... I end up with more and closer friends. At worst... I learn a little bit more about the people i've "friended" (as opposed to befriended) and will possibly have fewer names on a cyber list of potential acquaintances.
I am very open to new experiences, and I'm hoping that this will be an opportunity for many of them. I am up for walks, runs, hikes, coffee, shows, sports events, birthday parties, weddings, movies, meals, deserts, etc, etc, etc. I want to know more about my friends than their Scramble score, or who they murdered in Mafia Wars, or what animal they found in Farmville, or what they are fixing for dinner, etc, etc, etc.
These are some thoughts on guidelines (?):
Official start date would be Jan. 1st, 2010. Maybe sooner?
Hanging out does not necessarily have to be in a one on one scenario. If several friends and I are together, it will still count... as long as I have interacted with each person individually at some point for at least several minutes, and in doing so learn something about him or her that I did not know before, or from their Facebook page.
I'd like to take a picture with everyone that I'm able to meet up with.
New Friends (by way of Facebook) are invited to hang out as well, as long as I am still within my 300-365 "total number of friends to meet"-range. I'm guessing that not everyone will want to meet up or hang out with me, for a variety of reasons.
-Maybe you are too far away
-Maybe you don't want to be inconvenienced
-Maybe you are too far away and don't want to be inconvenienced
-Maybe you have no idea who I am and have no interest in finding out
-Maybe you are agoraphobic
-Maybe you don't consider me a friend, and are more comfortable with me remaining only your Facebook friend
There are tons of other wittier maybes that I can't think of right now.
International friends will be a challenge... an amazing challenge! Those of you who live in other countries, or other far away states for that matter... will definitely be the most expensive friends that I've ever made! :) Unless of course within 2010, you are planning a visit to the northeast coast. Then you've done most of the work! I do love to travel though, so international friends are fair game.
My job as a teacher affords me large chunks of the summer to be free. Most travel would be scheduled within this window, but not all.
SO...
It would be incredible to meet everyone! However, I understand if you... my Facebook friends, prefer our digital bond to an actual friendship. I definitely am not assuming that all of the people on my Facebook friends list will want to hang out. I am curious how many of you would. This may not end with me meeting everyone on my list, but I will be happy to have made or rekindled one solid bond/friendship, in the process. If you would like to be a part of this, I'd love to know, and know why. Those that don't, I'd love to know and know why as well. I think we'll both learn something either way.
Am I nuts? Would love to hear thoughts, comments, suggestions, questions, etc.
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