I am not going to lie.  It’s 11am and I’ve checked facebook 4 times this morning already.  I never used to be regular user and would enjoy going on there once or twice a week to see what’s happening.  These days I rarely go 3 hours without checking.  To say I have become slightly obsessed with it is probably not too far from the truth and I have no idea how this transition happened.

During a 3 hour FB break the other day I caught up with a real life friend and we were having conversations about our different Facebook Friends which got me thinking.  The majority of my ‘friends’ are, like me, parents who work, therefore quite honestly, during the week there really is not that much to report so what’s the attraction?  Is it the constant need to be in touch with what’s happening and the Big Brother nation that our generation have created or is it simply that we all enjoy being nosey and peeking into other people’s lives?!  Either way, love it or hate it facebook is here to stay.

In terms of Facebook Friends (FBF) though, that’s a whole concept in itself.  Out of my 400 friends the youngest is 6 mths and oldest is 70.  These people are from the all four corners of our amazing globe however the thing that unites them all is the majority fall into one of the 6 main categories of FBF, which I have kindly created for you:

Social Butterfly
The one who is out at least 5 nights a week and lives their life via a constant update of photo albums entitled things like “Bazza’s 30th”, “Girls Bight”, “V Festival”.  If there’s a festival - they’re there, a birthday meal – all over it, after work drinks – first one to the bar.

They usually upload at least 87 pics of each night out EVER and these albums are filled with images not dissimilar to the closing credits of “The Hangover” movies.  When you’re bored, you can’t help but trawl through the pictures of strangers in the vain hope that one day you will have a social life as busy as theirs.  These people are harmless.  Mainly drunk but harmless.

Committed Mum
The gorgeous yummy mummy who updates Every.Single.Detail relating to their babies and children including daily toilet and eating habits, pictures, frustrations, developments etc.  As a fellow mum you either totally comprehend everything or think shut up you gloating mumma fuzzer.  For every sleepless night you experience, guaranteed the CM will update with how amazingly her baby has slept.  When your 3 yr old poos herself in public, the CM will be on FB telling anyone who will listen how her 2yr old is fully toilet trained.  The CM doesn’t mean harm, she is mainly just bored and in need of some adult company.

Mrs TMI (too much information)
Ok, this is the one that grates on me the most.  I don’t wish to see a picture on facebook of a beef salad that you made that is ‘Uhh-maaaazing’.  It’s beef salad love.  Come on.
These FBF are usually the ones whose lives you know better than yours.  You know where they are every minute of the day “Mrs TMI checked in to the bathroom.”  They insist on telling you about every meal/diet, what they bought when they went shopping, when their child is sick, the days they go to the gym....  It’s exhausting.  I find that hiding updates from Mrs TMI usually makes you dislike them a little less.

Picture Updates
These are active FBF and just post pictures. A lot of pictures.  It may be a birthday celebration, a wedding, their children, the beach.  The point being they don’t feel the need for words, they just update their pictures.  Usually a little too cool for school for my liking and also there are only so many scenery updates I can take.  These people tend to have confidence issues.