So, you haven’t seen any Facebook posts from a certain friend recently – and decide to see what’s up. But when you try to click on their page, you can’t! Uh-oh – it looks like you’ve been “unfriended!”
For a lot of people, it’s a “who cares?” moment. After all, a lot of our Facebook friends aren’t actually friends in real life. So, losing a few is no big deal. But for others, it means rejection and betrayal, and hurt feelings.
So what are the top reasons people unfriend each other? Well, 57% of ‘unfriendings’ have NOTHING to do with anything you’ve done online! We get unfriended for something we’ve done in the real world. What about the other 43%? The top reasons include posts about religion or politics, vulgar or offensive posts and too many posts that have nothing to do with you – like, you need a barn on Farmville, or you just listened to Kool & The Gang on Spotify!
So if you’ve been unfriended – and it bothers you - what should you do?
- First, ask yourself: “Am I annoying on Facebook?” In other words, is your friends list dwindling because you post political rants, or boring comments – like, “Cornflakes for breakfast!” If you want your friends to stick around, make your posts more upbeat, and less polarizing.
- Okay, so what if your Timeline’s already filled with hip, insightful, and funny comments – and they unfriended you anyway? Don’t take it personally! The truth is – most of us eventually start paring down our list of friends to people we’re more closely connected to. In fact, that’s the number one reason people unfriend each other!
- Finally, would you like to unfriend someone, but you’re worried about hurt feelings? Instead of unfriending, unsubscribe from their status updates. You’ll still technically be friends – but you won’t have to see any of their comments.