Dear Richard,
I have an old friend who I do not see very much but we keep in touch on social media. Lately she has been relentlessly posting pictures of herself standing in front of ancient monuments and priceless works of art, and brandishing expensive cocktails and shopping bags as she tours Italy.
I liked seeing these up to a point but then I needed a bit of a break and stopped ‘liking’ her posts. I quickly got a series of needy direct messages so had to make an excuse about leaving my phone at home. I’m now considering fabricating some more serious tech outage and ‘muting’ her until she gets back. But then I’d feel guilty.
The thing is, if she genuinely just wants contact why does she seek it through these slightly boastful images of her glamorous life? I know what both she and the Colosseum look like: I’d much rather get a postcard that gathered her thoughts and directed them at me alone. Is there any point trying to explain this to her?
— Pat, via telegraph.co.uk
Dear Pat,
Hmm. I sense someone is making a drama out of a very tiny crisis. And that someone is you, I’m afraid.
I know what I’d have done in your place. Once I’d had my fill of these admittedly slightly irritating holiday pics, I’d have clicked on ‘like’ without bothering to look at them. Open. Like. Close. Simples. Why can’t you do that? Why get into this complicated gavotte of online manners with your friend?
And why do these harmless snapshots bother you so much? All right, she’s flaunting her Italian shopping holiday in your face a bit, but so what? She’s just having fun. And consider this: might it be that these selfies are being posted in a knowingly ironic way? Is that possible?
My advice until she gets home? I’ve already given it. Open. Like. Close. As they say in Rome, calmati! Chillax!