I have this little tool called Greasemonkey. Each time I sign into Facebook, the little monkey performs a “friend check” to see who has dropped me from their friend list. And yes, I’ve been dropped by several people. Ah ha! You thought I’d never know…
Surprise! The Internet is no longer a place to be anonymous. With all the widgets and gadgets, plug-ins and add-ons, there is a tool to thwart just about any subterfuge. Not that dropping friends from your Facebook account is a reason for high treason, but still, it hurts.
Well, it doesn’t hurt that much. That’s because when I first started using Facebook I “friended” a whole mess of people I barely knew or didn’t know at all. It was an ego move – a lot of people I knew had hundreds of friends. I wanted hundreds of friends too. How shallow!
What I learned is that in social media – as in normal, face-to-face socializing – its really more about quality than quantity. I completely get that. It’s not how many friends you have, but how useful, enjoyable and helpful your interactions with those friends are. As in life, if we have “friends” that are really just acquaintances and we never form a bond of any kind, then we are apt to drop them either actively (get lost!) or passively (do I know you?). Trying to keep up with my friends is hard enough, I just don’t have the time to keep up with mere acquaintances and I can only imagine that this is the true reason I’ve been dropped by some.
And yet the act of “dropping” is active – it requires action. You had to go to your friends list, see my name and click delete. Seems like a lot of unnecessary steps in our busy, busy lives. I suppose I was using up valuable Facebook friend real estate and had to go to make room for better friends. Or maybe my popping up on your home page with my usual drivel (its not all drivel) just finally got to you. FYI – you could have just click “hide” then you wouldn’t have to see my posts at all. But no, you specifically deleted me. So finally, here’s my question:
Do You Delete Friends on Facebook and why?
Yes I have deleted “friends” on facebook. Hiding friends on facebook does not prevent them sending stupid apps such as farmville to your profile. When this happens I first ask then to not send me anymore of these apps because I do not play then delete the nonsense off my profile. If they do it again I delete them. There is a difference between friends and “friends”. My personal friends, those I physically contact I never have that problem with because they respect my preferences. Those who are “friends” because they like my website, my posts or something along those lines have the potential to become “real” friends but they are still virtual friends. I do not feel hurt or anything else if I am deleted by a virtual friend. I know people who routinely delete virtual “friends” that have not posted to their facebook for awhile – it is nothing personal, just clean up.
Yes I have deleted “friends” but it is usually because they themselves are annoying on MY page or because I just don’t have anything in common with them.
A lot of people that I went to HS with try to go through and add everyone from HS even if they did not even know that you existed. Most of the time I give these old HS (and other random) “friends” a trial run if they turn out to be interesting and have something in common with me now or I was friends with them back in the day I might keep them on. If they are just “racking” up friends and I am just a number then no, away they go.
The Main reason I do this, I have pics of my kids on my FB so that my friends and family can see them and I don’t want just anybody who decides to add another number to their friends list to have access. I did not join facebook to get hundreds of FB “friends”, I joined to connect with family and friends that I don’ t get to see much.