And I feel like, wow, they're sharing this with me, even though they're sharing it in an open space with everybody who has access to them. So are we going to start celebrating those milestones? The fact that, wow, I've been friends with this girl online since 2009. I've been friends with this girl online or this guy online for most of my adulthood. And now we're getting older. We're seeing each other get older, and it's just amazing
Angela Kaye
@AnngieKaye · 4:58
I was like, well, let me just all these people that Facebook suggests, let me just go ahead and firm request them. I know they grew up in my town. I don't know them like that. But let me just add numbers to this page so I can get some more appreciation, right? I was thirsty, so I did that. Eventually I was like, no, let me not do that
Dewuan .
@FryedOreo · 3:09
Hello. I've gotten to know some people, and they've had the pleasure of getting to know me from the Internet over ten years. But I got to tell you, I am not the person to celebrate for Anniversaries Even birthdays. I am notorious for not telling you happy birthday even here on Swell. I'm not going to say happy birthday to you even if I see the post
Swell Team
@Swell · 0:15
Deborah Pardes
@DBPardes · 2:04
And it might be in cyberspace and it might be your next door neighbor. It's different. It's all different. I wouldn't value my life as much if I relegated it to only one kind of love. There's many kinds of loves, and they live in different places, they're with different people, they have different definitions. And I have to say, spending time here for the last three and a half years nurturing community
Andrea Piggue
@Andrea_Speaks · 4:31
I tried to say happy birthday to everybody, especially because on my birthday, so many people say happy birthday to me and I just don't feel like that's right that I don't say on their birthday. There's a friend of mine, she's actually like one of my mentors and she does like every day, she just does one big post for everybody. I don't even want to do that
Angela Kaye
@AnngieKaye · 1:47
So if you're my friend, I want you to be a close friend and a good friend. Or maybe a best friend. Or if I'm on a date with a guy, what are we doing? We got to be more than just friends, more than just dates. Same thing with the online presence. It's like, I only know you from online. I only know your pictures or your videos or your voice. I got to meet you in person
Deborah Pardes
@DBPardes · 1:32
They're my family, so I would never compare, but I would always hold in the same light the potential for them to move me. And my time here is spent so often connecting to people. I mean, you and I actually saw each other on Zoom, which was great, but most of the time, it's voice to voice, and it's amazing. And again, I wouldn't have said this three years ago, but this is my new truth
Tanya Coles
@MsColes77 · 3:58
One thing God has given me is a big capacity to love people. I do draw a line of demarcation when it comes to how I perceive the people that I meet online. I don't want to assume that everybody online is my friend. They're all going to have my back. They're all going to support me. And no matter what I do, they're all interested in every detail of my life. I know they're not. I know they're not. And same here
Tanya Coles
@MsColes77 · 3:31
Hey, Dewuan, thank you so much for your response. I agree with you. I don't do the birthday celebration thing. I don't do the friendiversary sharing thing. I don't do that. I don't make posts with people and pour accolades on them. And I don't do that either. I don't. And I think it's because that's not my personality. For one thing, I got to be true to myself. That's not my personality. I celebrate people
Tanya Coles
@MsColes77 · 3:03
And then I've got those random folks on my page that I don't know hardly anything about. So I've had the best of both worlds. And so I don't put a lot of stock into the relationships that I haven't really formed with people. But there are some that I hold dear to my heart. These people are important to my life. They've walked with me through some very challenging seasons. They've celebrated and rejoiced with me through victorious seasons
Tanya Coles
@MsColes77 · 1:39
And like I said, even looking back at some of the people I have met online, to see their children go from babies to teenagers, to see their marriages go from great to not so great to no longer existing to now they have a new love in their life, it's a crazy roller coaster. And you watch some people go from relative obscurity to now being an end influencer online
Luce Fonrose
@ilovelucee · 2:31
Everybody that I do speak to on social media for the most part are people that I would probably speak to normally anyway or would hang out with anyway. And I feel like we kind of go through phases
Andrea Piggue
@Andrea_Speaks · 4:35
To be able to connect with people and see their children grow up and see different things happen. Of course, not to see somebody get a divorce, but to see their children grow up and to see people happy and thriving and everything. That's the good part of Facebook. That's the part of Facebook that I like
DAYDAY Mcclenton
@KINGPOPOFLA · 2:04
So I want to say thank you for being my friend on the swell. Cast it really mean a lot to even have half of the people that I have listen to me all over the world knowing that in Kenya, Hungary, New Zealand, all of these places listen to my station. And thank you. It really means a lot. And hopefully we can keep this going
I'm not knocking anybody who does these kind of things. Me, as a person, I know that I'm hard to deal with, communicate with sometimes, because part of it is because I'm introverted. I feel very awkward saying hi, very awkward saying bye. But I also feel like if you're close to me, I don't feel the need to say either or hi or by
Tanya Coles
@MsColes77 · 0:22
Hey. Thank you so much for your kind words. Thank you so, so much. I am blessed to be your friend here on Swell and pray we stay connected. Thank you for your encouraging words. I was just sitting at my desk getting all emotional listening to your message. I really appreciate you and I really appreciate you taking the time to add input to this conversation. Thank you so much
Tanya Coles
@MsColes77 · 1:07
But I do wish people happy birthday, of course. But I don't go out of my way to go down my entire friends list to see who's got a birthday on this day and that day and to make sure that I acknowledge it. So I totally hear what you're saying and thank you so much