Don’t you hate it when unwelcome idiots intrude in on your party and spoil it for everyone, especially if it’s someone you know and aren’t friends with? And by friends, I mean the original definition of the word in that it’s someone you’re close to, not a so-called “friend” on Facebook you haven’t seen in three or more years.
I’ve seen a few events posted on Facebook, inviting people to birthday drinks at some club or whatever their stupid party was for. These invitations were put on a public setting, so just anyone could join the event and come if they wanted. Why would you do that? Do the people who created the event not realise that most of their Facebook “friends” are merely acquaintances who wouldn’t bother inviting you to their parties? Are these people just attention seekers wanting to look popular?
So what’s the etiquette here? There’s an event that you’ve seen on your News Feed and the person who posted it makes a status telling everyone on their friends list about it, though you weren’t directly invited yourself. I’d like to think the person has their closest friends in mind more than anyone else when making a party invitation. But then again, a lot of people have deluded themselves into thinking they were the cool kid in school, so they might actually expect everyone to show up. Stupid!
So do you click that Join button or not? You are pretty much just inviting yourself to the party; does this come off as rude and make you a gatecrasher? The party organiser will be flabbergasted when they see randoms they forgot even existed, let alone were on their friends list, join the event. Though they created the event so anyone could come, really, you’ve effectively gatecrashed the party days or even weeks before it happens! They did not actually expect you to come!
Imagine you’re the birthday person and someone you knew in high school but barely spoke to shows up to the function room in the club your partying at. At first, you’ll be wondering what the fuck they’re doing here, then you’ll remember Facebook. You’ll be shocked and maybe even a little rapt they showed up, but after exchanging pleasantries, the conversation will come to a dead halt and you’ll remember why you never got closer to this person years earlier. Awkward!
Anyway, for those creating a party event, the obvious solution to this problem is to set your event to private so only those invited will see it (see, not everything has a complicated way of being dealt with). Why would you want people you don’t give a shit about there?
And for those who see one of these events, pause and think: would this person come to your party? What do you two have to talk about? Why are you even considering going?
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