Milly, one of my school
friends, my very first friend to be precise, sent me some information on the
way she is attempting to make friends as she grows older. I had been extolling the virtues of
Facebook to her, and Twitter, and even
encouraging her to start writing a blog.
She has been cautiously interested and has learned to send emails, which
is more than I can say for the husband for whom I provided a Tablet at least
two years ago. But enough of that
because this post is not about him.
Milly asked me what the purpose
of `likes’ and `followers’ was because
she was genuinely keen on extending her social circle - and I tried to explain
though to be honest I am not terribly clear about this myself.
`You have to be likeable
yourself,’ I said brightly, `Learn to
like other people – and they will like you in return. Some may even follow you.’
`Like disciples?’ she asked uncertainly.
`Not quite like that,’ I told her.
She thought that was a pity and I insisted that she get
started.
She said she would and today she sent me a progress report. She had started by attempting to first make
friends outside of Facebook and Twitter she said, whilst applying the same
principles used by Social Media.
This is how it works. Every day Milly goes down to the bottom of
her street and tells passers- by what she has just had for breakfast, where she
went yesterday, where she had dinner the previous evening and what she plans to
do that day. If they pause to chat for
a moment she tells them what she thinks
about almost everything. She is able
to follow this up with photographs which she keeps in her pocket specifically
for the purpose. She hands out pictures of her family, her dog - one of her
doing some gardening and one of her hubby in the local library choosing reading
matter from the History section..
It’s not all about her of
course. She is careful to listen to the
news of those she accosts – she encourages them to tell her more and tells them
that she likes them. She has given
little cards with hearts on to some of her new friends. They were very pleased.
She says these ploys really do
work. She is making friends and
gathering followers. She currently has two
people following her – though they both seem to be police officers.