I’ve seen a rise in the number of followers I have on Instagram. That’s not necessarily a bad thing. I am making a point of being a public figure on social media, but I do like to draw a line where people I know in real life are concerned. Family in particular. I am not “friends” with my family members. I barely speak to most of them and have little desire to get any closer. Former students and colleagues are a similar situation. If I haven’t stayed in touch, I don’t really want you in my life. Cold, but true. There are some I will ignore, but I just blocked someone I didn’t want following me. Is it a harsh move? Maybe, but I don’t want to deal with the mess that will inevitably happen when that person is offended by something I post (this person is related to me BTW).
How do you handle the divide between those you know IRL and everyone else? I find that I prefer my online followers; I actually have a better relationship with some of the people I’ve met through this blog or on twitter than I do with relatives or people I’ve met through work (my last job was at a Catholic school, needless to say, my views didn’t always mesh).
Just some thoughts worth mulling.
marginalia and such 
I think there’s definitely a balance. I try to keep my writing-persona separate from my general online presence, and then also some separation between IRL and online friends too. Facebook has always been a weird space I tried to keep under 100 friends because I know I won’t be able to keep up with 200 people… especially if I see someone 5 days a week, reading about their life at weekends doesn’t really ‘add’ to our relationship. I think the line is different for everyone, but there’s definitely one there in my opinion!