Facebook became a barren wasteland since the invention of pretty much every other social media site. Pictures were being posted on Instagram, thoughts were being posted on Twitter, and what used to be a highly populated site became a place to ask all of your sisters at once where the best place to get a bikini wax is on your sorority’s group page. Besides the occasional racist rant from a townie or collection of your aunt’s vacation photos, Facebook faded into dormancy. However, Facebook wasn’t ready to go down without a fight. Slowly but surely, Facebook was resurrected with shared articles and short videos. This offered a new communication that no other site could provide us with. It was replacing our own thoughts with the recycling of thoughts, which made for even less thinking. Because Facebook is still considered uncool, however, you only share videos with those who you are comfortable enough with. Those you tag in the comments of Facebook videos are your real friends.
Scrolling through hours of puppy videos and recipes you will never make requires only the brain power to move one finger, but once in a while, you can come across something that makes you think of someone special. You sharply blow air through your nose in the place of a real laugh, and take a few seconds to tag your best friend who is obsessed with corgis and needs to see this video of them having a pool party. Instantly, your friend gets the notification that you havef tagged them in a post. At first, their heart drops. What embarrassing TimeHop picture have you drudged up to share with the world. High school should not be seen, especially by your 80 year old great Aunt Joan. They begrudgingly open Facebook to find a corgi sliding down a slide, and a wave of relief and joy washes over them. They like your comment to let you know they saw it, and if they especially liked it, they will comment back a couple crying laughing emojis.
This seems like a small gesture, but this is where the deepest form of friendship lies. Even when you are doing the most mindless of activities, you still have that person in the back of your mind. Whether you both can’t resist a delicious chocolate recipe, you get your news from NowThis, or cats are your weakness, no one knows that better than your Facebook tagging friend. You can send each other dance videos and live vicariously through their smooth moves, or even videos of people falling, because there is literally nothing funnier. That constant consideration and careful searching for a video that they know will make you happy is a selfless act that usually goes unnoticed. But it’s those acts that strengthen your bond.
It can be nerve wracking at first. You may be unsure if you guys are on that level yet. You both consistently like each others’ posts, you snap each other ugly pictures, and you text each other screenshots of personal text conversations. Being tagged in comments is the final phase before becoming best friends, so it shouldn’t be taken lightly. Really consider the repercussions of others seeing “(your name) has mentioned (person’s name) in a comment” with the video playing below. First and foremost, will your friend enjoy the video? If yes, does it fit both of your personal brands to be associated with that video? As soon as you are confident in your relationship as well as your video choice, take the plunge and offer this significant offering of friendship.
So next time the notification pops up on your phone that you’ve been tagged in a comment, take a moment to think about that person as much as they have thought of you. Reciprocate the happiness that they bring you by tagging them in a video that makes you think of them. That, my friends, is true friendship..
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Ali Hin
A born and raised Jersey girl, she can always be found covered in sand and pizza sauce. Her personal brand is "that girl." She prefers wine in bottles because she thinks outside of the box. Send fan mail to [email protected] or by smoke signal.
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