The Joys of Defriending

I recently discovered how to defriend people on Facebook. And once I realized how easy, painless, and non-confrontational it was...I was hooked. I decided to do a thorough review of my entire friend list and lighten the load.

Some people were easy targets: an elementary school pal with, shall we say, very conservative tendencies and an "anti-Obama" countdown ticker on her main page. The guy I vaguely recalled from high school who'd found Jesus and wanted everyone to know about it via his status updates. The random dude who shared a last name with me and nothing else.

And then there were those who fell in the grey area: a woman I knew in highschool and barely remembered but who seemed interesting though we never actually talked after I accepted her friend request. Extended family members who I had less in common with than complete strangers but felt compelled to friend because, well, they're family. Former colleagues who I never really spent much time with when we worked together but who might prove to be good future networking contacts. And the list went on and on.

Don't get me wrong. I firmly believe in different strokes for different folks. But just because I'm open minded towards people doesn't mean I have to hang out with them, virtually or otherwise.

I suppose all of this begs the question, why did I friend them in the first place? I blame some of it on the initial honeymoon phase that comes with setting up a Facebook account. The thrill of adding friends to my network managed to override my normally cautious temperment. In the case of childhood and adolescent friends, curiosity won out. I hadn't seen these people in years and was interested to see what sort of adults they'd evolved into. And sometimes, I'd get a request from someone I couldn't recall for the life of me and would accept if only to connect the dots.

In the end, I kept most of my original list in tact and only removed those people who a) I didn't know from a hole in the wall and b) I didn't particularly care for. I never let them know in advance...just took one last look at their profiles and then clicked the button. Cowardly of me? Perhaps. But I haven't had any regrets. Though sometimes I do wonder if they noticed my absence and what they thought about it, if they gave it any thought at all.

Have you ever defriended someone? Why? On the flip side, ever been defriended (that you know of)?