My wife asked me an interesting question a few days ago. She wanted to know if I would ever add someone that I bullied at school as a friend on Facebook. Something about being mature and all adult like.
No really, I did
I said no, mainly because she had already started making cracks about the person in question and how her friend and her wanted to see what she looked like in all of her new pictures. I was also never a bully at school so I can’t really relate to the question. I was a more on-the-fence, Switzerland-neutral guy at school and didn’t get involved in many altercations.
But it did make me wonder about my friends list in general. Facebook has really helped me keep in touch with a lot of friends after being away from South Africa for almost two years. But right now my friends list is 340 long, and that’s not bragging, I’m actually a little embarrassed that I have people on my list that I don’t care about. There’s also just no way I can have any kind of relationship with that many people – which makes me wonder about the people who have 1500 friends. Anyway….
It’s split up like this:
- Friends I know very well and would talk to without Facebook.
- Family
- Work colleagues
- People I have never met but know quite well, blog readers, forums etc.
- Old school friends who I talk to every now and again
- Acquaintances who have no bearing on my life
So I figure that it’s time to start weeding some of them out. The bulk will come out of the acquaintances category. It’s going to work like this, people who I really don’t like are out first. I have that list ready as they are already in a specific group who can’t see my personal info due to wonderfully precise privacy settings.
So if you can’t see my cellphone number or email address on my profile, you know how I feel about you now. Kidding, but you will wonder now won’t you?
Next are people who irritate me. If your status messages don’t make me laugh ever, you’re out. This is important, it shows me you are worth having as a friend.
Finally, if you don’t bother reading this site (I shamelessly advertise it a few times a week), you’re definitely out – and that goes for my brother, wife and everyone else less important.