I have some very nice friends on Facebook; some I’ve never met in person, some I haven’t seen since I was a kid, some are just a faint memory of what seems to be another life.  But, what connects us is a common interest in news, memes, politics, pictures, or just plain crazy talk.

That brings me to what I ignore.  Some days I can’t repost fast enough.  Some days almost everything I read hits a cord on some level.  On other days, however, I am on information overload.  On those days I can’t read another article about a kid lynched in the South using modern day methods (guns, vehicles).  On those days I might not feel so witty and my mind seems to purposefully shut out all the negative noise, even though I may go back to it on another day.

The religious posts are ones that I’m less likely to respond to, and if that’s all my friend posts, I’ll probably hide it because my conversation has to be more expansive than that.  Some of the memes I like and will pass on, but if that’s all that’s posted for that friend, I won’t see it unless I go on their page.

And then there are the games.  I don’t like the games.  I don’t like congratulating someone on something they posted only to get an IM saying I am now caught in the game web and I have to play so I can catch some other unsuspecting friends.  Maybe I don’t want to test the level of my friendships, or maybe they will react the same as I did about taking the bait, but, no matter how much I enjoy the friendship, I.  Just.  Can’t.  There are other game requests for something I have no intention of even responding (like candies, or farm animals, or something to do with hearts) to no matter how many requests I get.

But then there is Words With Friends.  I love this game.  It keeps my mind working as I try to outwit my opponent, but I don’t have as many players as I’d like.  I do, however, have a faithful competitor that always keeps me on my toes and I look forward to playing the game with him.  This is the most fun for me, and it was the best distraction I had when I was grading papers before I stopped teaching.

So friends, keep posting so I can pick and chose what impacts me at the moment and I’ll do the same.