Unfriending is a big step.
But there is such a thing as too many Facebook friends. Or too many boring updates from people we barely know.
Thankfully, Facebook has a great tool for cleaning up your Facebook Newsfeed.
If you go to facebook.com/friends/organize, it will show you the people you interact with the least. You can then make these Facebook friends ‘acquaintances’, which means that their posts will show up way less in your feed. Usually their statuses will only show up if they are getting traction in terms of likes and comments from others.
Of course, you can make any friend with boring (‘Just had lunch. Back to work.’), repetitive (‘Here’s another picture of my cat. I know I’ve already posted 300 of them, but isn’t she the cutest?’), annoying (‘X has just finished level 3 of Crazy Pig Farm Saga’), offensive, etc. posts into an acquaintance.
Or you could take the plunge and unfriend them. By the way, if you’ve set your settings such that you allow followers, unfriending people automatically makes them into followers, which means they’ll still be able to see your updates. That way, they may not even notice you’ve stop seeing them.
On the other hand, making someone a ‘close friend’ means you’ll be seeing all of their updates. Used sparingly (because even your best friends get get annoying), it’s the perfect way to stay up to date with your best friends’ lives.
Lauren Hunter says
Great tips, Rachel! Thanks for sharing. I just cleaned up my Facebook friends.
Rachel Blom says
You’re very welcome Lauren! I love Facebook, but I do want to keep my newsfeed fresh and interesting 🙂
Eric Dye says
Always making Facebook more usable. 😛
Rachel Blom says
Hey, you know my love for Facebook runs deep and wide 😉