# The Demographics of your FaceBook friends. **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [June 20, 2017, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-demographics-of-your-facebook-friends/789480 "2017-06-20T22:30:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![jtur88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e9c0ed/32.png) [@jtur88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jtur88)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2017, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-demographics-of-your-facebook-friends/789480/1 "2017-06-20T22:30:41Z")
How many FaceBook friends do you have, how many have you actually met, and how many different states/countries do they live in? FaceBook recently congratulated me for hitting the 20 mark on my friends list. Only two I have never met personally, but I’ve talked to on phone. The 20 live in nine different countries, ranging from Trinidad to Ukraine to Indonesia. Some of my FaceBook friends have many hundreds of freinds, and I often wonder who they are. I keep getting nagged to friend them. ---
**Author:** ![DrFidelius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drfidelius/32/3447_2.png) [@DrFidelius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrFidelius)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2017, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-demographics-of-your-facebook-friends/789480/2 "2017-06-20T22:35:31Z")
Nearly 1900, of whom I have met about fifty to a hundred in meatpacking. I do not track location but many are in France. ---
**Author:** ![romansperson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/romansperson/32/17100_2.png) [@romansperson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/romansperson)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2017, 10:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-demographics-of-your-facebook-friends/789480/3 "2017-06-20T22:43:31Z")
I have about 150. I have met the majority of them. Most are longtime friends. A few are relatives. Others belong to a special interest group I’m in, and I’ve networked with them over the Internet for … about 25 years now? We just moved from email/listserv to message boards to Facebook as preferred platforms changed. Lots of states and 4-5 countries. I do keep my personal and work lives separate. Work people are all on LinkedIn. Personal friends are on Facebook. ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2017, 2:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-demographics-of-your-facebook-friends/789480/4 "2017-06-21T02:55:53Z")
233 friends 4 I haven’t met (two of which are Dopers, two are FOAFs who liked my comments) 2 live outside of the US 11 are a different ethnicity than me (I’m white) 12 have a different sexual preference than me (I’m straight) I’d venture to guess about a dozen of them have opposing political views to me (I’m a liberal) (not everyone makes their politics known) 2 are deceased (friends my age who recently passed) It’s hard to count but I think about 110 are friends I made between 5 and 18 years of age, 110 are friends I made from 18 to 38, and the rest are related to me. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2017, 3:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-demographics-of-your-facebook-friends/789480/5 "2017-06-21T03:21:43Z")
583 friends. From doing a sample of about 200 and extrapolating it, it looks like I haven’t personally met maybe 25 of these people. As for location, I’m guessing about 70-80 live outside the US, mostly in Hungary (looks like 39 in Hungary, at least those who have filled out their location info), and some in the UK (10), India (8), Australia (4), Poland (4), Germany (3) and Russia (3). There’s a smattering of other countries in there (New Zealand and Belgium come to mind), but it’s largely Euro-centric, and these totals may be a little undertallied, since not everyone has their location field filled out. Looks like about 150 live in the Chicago area. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2017, 5:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-demographics-of-your-facebook-friends/789480/6 "2017-06-21T05:32:22Z")
818 Facebook friends, currently. I’ve met nearly all of them (I’d guess 95+%), as nearly all fall into one of the following camps: - Family - Friends from school (grade school, high school, college) - Past or present colleagues - Friends from my hobbies (mostly role-playing games) Almost all of the ones I’ve not met in person are in that last group, as I’ve done a fair amount of online gaming. The vast majority of my FB friends are in the U.S. There are probably a dozen in Canada, and another dozen or so in other places (primarily Europe). ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2017, 6:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-demographics-of-your-facebook-friends/789480/7 "2017-06-21T06:19:33Z")
Same as real friends. None. ---
**Author:** ![HoneyBadgerDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/honeybadgerdc/32/1033_2.png) [@HoneyBadgerDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HoneyBadgerDC)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2017, 9:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-demographics-of-your-facebook-friends/789480/8 "2017-06-21T09:29:36Z")
A little over 700 friends, I have met I am guessing about 300 in person. Maybe 40 are gay from both sexes. Maybe 20 blacks, 100 Hispanics, 100 Asians. The majority from the US. Several from China, Ukraine, all countries in Europe. About 50/50 on liberal conservative. ---
**Author:** ![pullin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c57346/32.png) [@pullin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pullin)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2017, 9:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-demographics-of-your-facebook-friends/789480/9 "2017-06-21T09:51:41Z")
A couple dozen. All people I already knew. I decline requests from people I don’t actually know. Demographically, they’re all pretty much like me. White, middle class, around 60 years old, concentrated almost entirely in two adjacent states. The only age exceptions are my kids. ---
**Author:** ![Rick\_Sanchez](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e19adc/32.png) [@Rick\_Sanchez](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick_Sanchez)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2017, 10:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-demographics-of-your-facebook-friends/789480/10 "2017-06-21T10:05:51Z")
I’ve got 110, which, frankly, is about 75 too many. ---
**Author:** ![Mighty\_Mouse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mighty_mouse/32/7776_2.png) [@Mighty\_Mouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mighty_Mouse)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2017, 10:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-demographics-of-your-facebook-friends/789480/11 "2017-06-21T10:25:04Z")
About 100, all of whom I have met. All are either friends or relatives. Total of 6 countries, with almost half being in other countries. I pretty much use Facebook to keep in touch with friends and family who are geographically distant, so I guess that is not surprising. ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2017, 12:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-demographics-of-your-facebook-friends/789480/12 "2017-06-21T12:29:59Z")
Nearly 700 friends, only 2 or 3 I’ve never met. But some are people I’ve taken pictures of at races who friended me once I’ve posted their photos. Lots of college friends, people I’ve met hiking, running, and skiing, family, and coworkers. They probably cover 20-30 countries, nearly all of the US states, although the majority are in the northeast. There are probably 40-50 people that I see on a regular basis, and maybe 200 I see each year. ---
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2017, 12:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-demographics-of-your-facebook-friends/789480/13 "2017-06-21T12:33:05Z")
My wife, my 3 kids, and my 11 nieces and nephews. ---
**Author:** ![Brodi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/cc9497/32.png) [@Brodi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Brodi)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2017, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-demographics-of-your-facebook-friends/789480/14 "2017-06-21T14:55:00Z")
I have 56 in total. 25 are family 4 are past co-workers 3 are high school friends 2 are from a Meetup group 2 are from a support group 2 are from a FB group 1 is from a forum I used to post on I is from a class I took 1 is a coworker of my dad 1 is a FB friend of my dad 1 is a person I met while volunteering 1 is a person I adopted a dog from Age range 20s-70s White, Hispanic and African American. One was in Italy for awhile, one is in Iceland, one is stationed in the Sea of Japan, and the rest are scattered around the states. ---
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2017, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-demographics-of-your-facebook-friends/789480/15 "2017-06-21T15:24:46Z")
500 exactly. I keep it at 500 and when I add a friend I delete another. 70% are women, 60% are Asian, maybe 75% are friends from church or college. ---
**Author:** ![Barkis\_is\_Willin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a183cd/32.png) [@Barkis\_is\_Willin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Barkis_is_Willin)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2017, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-demographics-of-your-facebook-friends/789480/16 "2017-06-21T15:33:00Z")
I have about 200 FB friends, two whom I have not met in person. I’d like to whittle that list down to about 20, but it’s more convenient to tolerate people’s stupid FB antics than start FB drama by offending someone with a de-friend. ---
**Author:** ![DooWahDiddy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e9bcb4/32.png) [@DooWahDiddy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DooWahDiddy)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2017, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-demographics-of-your-facebook-friends/789480/17 "2017-06-21T17:06:28Z")
> [@Velocity](#): > > 500 exactly. I keep it at 500 and when I add a friend I delete another. > > 70% are women, 60% are Asian, maybe 75% are friends from church or college. What’s your logic behind this? What happens when you get to the point where you’re adding a friend but don’t have anyone left you want to delete? [QUOTE=Barkis is Willin’] I have about 200 FB friends, two whom I have not met in person. I’d like to whittle that list down to about 20, but it’s more convenient to tolerate people’s stupid FB antics than start FB drama by offending someone with a de-friend. [/QUOTE] Don’t forget you have the option to un_follow_ without un_friending_. That means you’ll still remain friends but won’t see their posts anymore. They won’t be notified, and you’ll be free of their antics without them knowing a thing. ---
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2017, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-demographics-of-your-facebook-friends/789480/18 "2017-06-21T17:12:27Z")
Come on! Someone has to have fewer FB friends than my 15! Full disclosure - my occupation is such that it is advisable that I keep as low an on-line presence as possible. ---
**Author:** ![rbroome](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/838e76/32.png) [@rbroome](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rbroome)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2017, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-demographics-of-your-facebook-friends/789480/19 "2017-06-21T21:40:06Z")
Well, frankly I have no idea. I got a Facebook account back in the early days just so my username is mine. Since then I haven’t checked it at all. My wife uses it to see the grandkids, other than that I believe the answer is 0 for me. ---
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2017, 11:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-demographics-of-your-facebook-friends/789480/20 "2017-06-22T23:24:48Z")
> [@DooWahDiddy](#): > > What’s your logic behind this? What happens when you get to the point where you’re adding a friend but don’t have anyone left you want to delete? The logic is that 500 is a nice number (I’m a bit OCD,) and also that I think that when you have 700, 900 friends, etc. a lot of those are meaningless acquaintances. I will, of course, someday get to the point where I shouldn’t delete any more friends. But right now, some of my Facebook friends are people I don’t really need as friends, or haven’t talked to in many years. So I will still trim them one at a time. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-demographics-of-your-facebook-friends/789480.md?page=2)