Dear Eric: I have a friend I’ve known for four years. We all live in a 55+ community and have moved here from different areas of the country. We are a group of women who get together on a regular basis for outings.

Over the past couple of months, I feel somewhat left out because of a couple of events I wasn’t included in. But what I’m trying to understand is why does she not “like” or comment on any of my Facebook posts when she’s all over everyone else’s with supportive and loving comments?

Again, this is so silly, but I can’t help wondering why. When I look back at my posts, I noticed she has never acknowledged any of them, even for my birthday. We are still friends, we work with the same fundraising group, have dinner at each other’s house and get invited to the same events. This Facebook thing has got me confused and I don’t know what kind of friend she is so I’m getting uncomfortable around her.

So now, what am I doing? Ignoring her posts, which makes me feel so stupid and juvenile. If I wasn’t part of this group, which I really like, I wouldn’t bother with her. Can you shed any light on her mindset? It’s really got me confused.

— Friend Request

Dear Friend: Even though social media platforms are built to echo some aspects of real-life friendships, they also bring out situations and feelings that don’t have a real-life corollary. I’m not sure we were ever built to know this many people’s thoughts on every single thing, including every single thing that we post about our lives. It’s too much.

So, give yourself a break. It’s natural for these feelings to come up. Facebook is designed to show you what your friends are interacting with, so it’s natural to notice when your friends aren’t interacting with content you post.

The simplest answer may be that her algorithm doesn’t show her what you post very often. Everyone’s Facebook is tailored to them, to their behavior, and to what the company’s advertisers and engineers want each person to do. So, it’s very possible that she’s simply unaware of what you’re posting.

Since you interact socially in real life with no problem, it’s best to just believe that and let it go. If you’re curious about the nature of your friendship, talk to her, in real life. But keep the conversation focused on real life, not what she does or doesn’t do online.

Send questions to R. Eric Thomas at eric@askingeric.com.