Friend Rejections

So I'm still learning my online etiquette. I shouldn't invite myself to friends of friends even if we have common interests. Or if I do, I face the chance of rejection. Like the past couple weeks, I wanted to get to know more people in an area that I'm about to move, so I sent out some friend requests on myspace. But I should just go the old fashion way. If they're normal individuals, I should get to know them in person, and then request a friendship online. I guess I'm not used to the blatant rejection. In the real world, people don't out right reject your request for a friendship.

In the real world, a friend rejection is usually more tactful... a series subtle hints of rejection that build up over time. You might not even realize you're being rejected. Like cooking a frog. Turn the heat up gradually and the frog won't know it's being cooked. But in the myspace world, it's a clear cut answer. "Deny!" That's a splash of hot, scalding water to the ego. Oh well, I don't want a big ego anyways and I say, if I didn't have their friendship in the first place, what's to loose? If I try, I may gain a friend. If I don't try, I know I won't gain a friend.

What about deleting friends? Never has it been so clear when you offend someone. With the swift click of a mouse button, poof! They've eliminated you from their head count of friends. Ah, I must admit, I've used the power once before. A couple disrespectful comments and that was it for that friendship. I guess I should have written a warning when the first disrespectful comment came, and also an explanation when the next one came, but I didn't.

But overall, I'm afraid of the new world of virtual friendship and feel less cool/secure on myspace. I need to read a book on myspace etiquette. It might help me make new friends, but it still won't help the queasy feeling I get after browsing through so many profiles.