Facebook Friends

Why do we "friend" our friends on Facebook? So many people on Facebook have hundreds of friends, and I always wonder, 'Do they really know 549 people?' How does someone meet and remember that many people? And even if we remember meeting these people, why do we become "friends" with all of them. I can honestly say that of the 112 friends I have on Facebook, I only keep up with about 10 of them. More than half of the 10 are family. But we see someone we knew 10 years ago, and decide to reconnect. But we never do that either. I have never really reconnected with anyone from my past via Facebook. And yet, I have so many friends. I don't know if these friends are married, I don't know when their birthdays are, I have no idea where they live now, but at one point in my life, they were present a lot, so I "friend" them.

I bet the very same people I am talking about, think the same thing about me. They see my name, and add be because they remember going to school with me, or working with me, or were a friend of a friend. But then they probably think, "Why does it matter if I am friends with her? I didn't keep in touch with her, I barely remember her, and I really don't care what she is up to now."

Now, I must say that every now and then, I wonder if my school friends look the same as they did then; if they're taller, thinner, fatter, prettier, more handsome. Some people, I remember being awkward and I wonder if they grew into the swan or not. I look through their pictures to see if anything has changed. But that is really about it. I don't care what movie they went to see, or where they are going shopping, or what they are merely thinking. And still, I keep them as "friends".

Is there any answer to why people have hundreds of Facebook friends with no intention of ever talking to them? Maybe there is some deep rooted reason I am overlooking...