Well for starters, how many of you know, “Who all your Facebook friends are?” I admit. I know I didn’t up until recently.
I’ve done a lot of thinking recently about how I’ve used Facebook over the years. I’m not particularly fond about how Facebook is evolved. But like so many others, I know I could never just delete my personal account. Let’s face it– I’m connected to about 95% of my friends on Facebook. I have photos, entire conversations and let’s face it, memories all posted on my profile page for everyone to see.
For the longest time, I wasn’t very selective about who I allowed to be my friends on Facebook. If I met you at a party freshmen year of college, there’s a good chance the next day I’d send you a Facebook invite. Now, this probably wasn’t the brightest idea. I literally was connected to tons of people on Facebook, who I didn’t really know. I was friending some people based on how THEY ACTED ON ONE DAY. Then, for the longest time, I just kept them on my friend list. Fearing that I would be “rude” to “unfriend” them.
It took a couple of awkward messages, wall posts and invites to make me realize the error of my ways. And last week, I finally got the willpower to just spend a few hours and literally sort through my entire friend list. I went through my 450 something Facebook “friends” and I was shocked by who I invited to be my “friend.” I narrowed down the list to about 315 “friends.” That’s still a lot, but it’s more manageable and it gives me the peace of mind to know exactly who is seeing my profile. After all, I’m sharing my PERSONAL INFORMATION. I have the right to decide who to “friend” and who to “unfriend.” I want to emphasize this point. No one is forcing you to accept that friend request. You are the gatekeeper for your Facebook information, so choose wisely.
This little Facebook experiment proved to be very useful. I encourage everyone else to go through their list and see who they are “friends” with. I can guarantee you will find some surprises. Go ahead with it! Follow through with that mass Facebook “friend” purge.