Thanks for the stress, Facebook

Social networking angst, or SNA as it's known by me exclusively, is affecting every single one of us (that's on Facebook or MySpace, or, god help us, Bebo). There are multiple causes of SNA, and the effects of it can be debilitating: did you know that every person on Facebook spends, on average, ten hours a week angsting over whether they should add someone as a friend from the 'People You Might Know' sidebar?

Okay so that might not be true. But the fact remains that I spend at least some part of my precious (not really) time angsting over social networking sites. Along with the admitted thrill of stalking someone with the help of Internet Technology a la the CIA of the Sixties (espionage!), there come the unexpected strains on my conscience from such dilemmas as: Will My 'Religious Views' Alienate My Friends?, Do I Tag Or Don't I?, and Extremely Unflattering Photos from the Night Before! Stress from the internet: what next.

My least favourite SNA-inducing circumstance is when someone has added me as a friend, someone with whom I have about a bajillion friends in common, and I am certain I have never met them. This has almost caused me a facial-muscle strain from looking confused so hard. I mean, what is the correct protocol here? Do I message them going O HAI WHO R U NEWAY? Do I ignore the request and risk cutting off all contact with a long-forgotten primary school friend? Where are the RULES?

My strategy seems to consist entirely of leaving the friend request to languish in my notifications folder for about a week until a particularly decisive mood is upon me and I randomly click at the bars underneath the picture until it disappears. Sorry, Blake Denning - I don't really know who you are but I hope we can be friends anyway?

Another cause of SNA is the whole event-invitation debacle that strikes regularly. I have issues when people don't follow up on appointments they've said they'll keep. Facebook totally facilitates this! Here is the scenario: I invite people to a Facebook event. People respond to the Facebook event with a "yes". Then people don't show. Gen Y: you're not doing much for the stereotype!

This kind of SNA leaks over into real life, too. In My Experience, members of my generation are much more blase about keeping appointments than our older relatives. I'm not sure exactly what can be held accountable for this demographic-wide commitment-phobia (hint: it's probably the internet) but jeez it's annoying.

Popular culture: I love you but I blame you for the inadequacies of my friends and acquaintances.

P.S: A Facebook friend of mine posted this awesome article if you'd like to muse more on your hopeless addiction to social networking.