A while back, Seattle writer Melanie McFarland reached a point where when she logged on to Facebook and realized that most of the people she was "friends" with, she wasn't all that close to. So she poured a glass of wine, turned on some quiet music, and one by one, unfriended the people that she couldn't tell you what was going on in their life, and they couldn't tell you what was going on in hers. She wanted to narrow it down to friends she could talk to and rely on, and who could rely on her.
Some time later, one of her closest friends found herself being held captive in the Middle East and Facebook quickly became a tool that was used in an effort to get her released. All of a sudden, the social network became a way to communicate with strangers who might also be able to get the word out.
McFarland shared the story at Sound Effect's live show, "A Friend In Need" at Town Hall in Seattle.
