Ping! The familiar notification from Facebook Messenger alerted me to a new message, a simple “Happy New Year!” from a friend in Mauritius, whom I’d met incidentally on a trip to Japan more than two years ago.

We haven’t seen each other since we met, and yet we’ve managed somehow to stay in touch and stay current with each other’s life events. And then it hit me all at once, what I should really resolve to do this year that would be meaningful to me and different from the last years’ half-hearted declarations. I even made a (rather witty, in my opinion) Facebook post about it! And I certainly don’t think I need any bad karma or credibility issues from the all-knowing, all-seeing internet Gods, so here it is: what if, instead of just beefing up my personal network and brand via social media, I took all of my “friends”, “followers”, and “contacts”, and actually built a real, personal, relationship with each of them, or at the very least attempted to?

In other words: Hi, I’m Julie and I like warm hugs!

I realize I’m the one who’s going to have to seduce my friends to, you know, talk to me… And while it’s a small gesture, I think it’s a pretty decent goal. A S.M.A.R.T goal if you will (that’s Smart, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic and Timely – said every modern business book ever). So here’s the fine print.

• Who’s involved? For now, I am targeting my Facebook buddies, LinkedIn contacts AND OF COURSE, EVERYONE WHO CORRESPONDS WITH ME HERE ON MY BLOG! since these networks involve direct relationships and identities, as opposed to Twitter and Instagram, which focus mostly on producing content and material.
• What am I talking about? Transform social media friends into social media friends. And since we don’t live in a world of rainbows and lollipops (although that sounds delicious), it may ultimately lead to–nay, it SHOULD lead to–cutting out some dead weight in my life. You know the types. And believe me so do I–should make for interesting fodder for later…
• Where? On the Internetz. Or should a live opportunity present itself, I wouldn’t say no to seeing an old friend.
• When? 364 days remaining, or a churn of 3.7 people per day. If this little experiment works out, maybe it’s something that I could carry over on a rolling basis.
• How? Let the message fit the medium–a quick, personalized note if ever and whenever possible, informing the recipient of my project and with some fun questions to get the conversation rolling. “Fun” is rather subjective, but I think I will omit such goodies like what is your favorite sexual position… for now. 
• Why? Because this.

Also, I’m sick of creeping on your profile in private! Let me in, or let me out. I’m sure there’s much more to you than 142.3 GB worth of media of your children spitting up/hitting each other/pissing off the family dog. I bet you’re a far better person than all of your shared pop quizzes and personality assessments would otherwise indicate. You are more than the sum of your buzzfeed parts.

And, like the protagonist of this video, I think my life would be better with better friendships. It’s important to remember that it’s not about quantity, it’s about quality. In keeping this resolution, I will consider myself successful it it produces even one stronger friendship than before, or removes (or heals!) even one toxic connection from my past.

Any advice for me?