# Unfriending **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [February 26, 2010, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unfriending/530572 "2010-02-26T21:14:33Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![DanBlather](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/f4b2a3/32.png) [@DanBlather](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DanBlather)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2010, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unfriending/530572/1 "2010-02-26T21:14:33Z")
I have too many marginal “friends” on my Facebook acct. If I unfriend them, do they get notified? I don’t want to offend them, I just don’t care about the fact that they are doing laundry right now or be asked to sign another petition to honor our troops. ---
**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2010, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unfriending/530572/2 "2010-02-26T21:18:35Z")
Nope - they don’t get a notification. If they look for you on their friend page they won’t find you (thus cluing them in), but no - they don’t get a message or anything. ---
**Author:** ![DCnDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dcndc/32/2842_2.png) [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2010, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unfriending/530572/3 "2010-02-26T21:19:15Z")
There is no notification involved; they won’t know until they specifically notice it on their own. ---
**Author:** ![DanBlather](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/f4b2a3/32.png) [@DanBlather](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DanBlather)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2010, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unfriending/530572/4 "2010-02-26T21:24:54Z")
Thx ---
**Author:** ![pravnik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8edcca/32.png) [@pravnik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pravnik)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2010, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unfriending/530572/5 "2010-02-26T21:25:49Z")
I don’t believe they get notified, but they’ll probably notice you’re not on their friends list sooner or later. An alternative to deleting friends who go overboard with 20 or 30 inane updates every single day is to click the “hide” button on the right of their latest upate, so their updates don’t come up on your news feed anymore. You can still see their page when you want, you’re still on each other’s friend lists, and no inane update overload, so win-win. ---
**Author:** ![DCnDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dcndc/32/2842_2.png) [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2010, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unfriending/530572/6 "2010-02-26T21:36:14Z")
> [@pravnik](#): > > inane update overload Right? A daily update or two is fine, but do people not realize most of us _really_ don’t care to be notified about the minutiae of their everyday lives or their little pet causes? ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2010, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unfriending/530572/7 "2010-02-26T21:42:50Z")
Never mind. ---
**Author:** ![Apex\_Rogers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e480ec/32.png) [@Apex\_Rogers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Apex_Rogers)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2010, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unfriending/530572/8 "2010-02-26T21:56:31Z")
> [@DCnDC](#): > > Right? A daily update or two is fine, but do people not realize most of us _really_ don’t care to be notified about the minutiae of their everyday lives or their little pet causes? I regularly get inundated with App notifications telling me that So-and-So just won a flower trophy in Lame App 6.9! One person in particular has spawned 20 or so of these in a single day. Time to make use of the Hide button I guess. ---
**Author:** ![Bearflag70](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Bearflag70](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bearflag70)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2010, 10:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unfriending/530572/9 "2010-02-26T22:10:57Z")
Hiding apps is good. Hiding annoying friends’ posts is good. Good results without the politics of unfriending. ---
**Author:** ![rekkah](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ee59a6/32.png) [@rekkah](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rekkah)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2010, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unfriending/530572/10 "2010-02-27T21:05:20Z")
> [@Apex\_Rogers](#): > > I regularly get inundated with App notifications telling me that So-and-So just won a flower trophy in Lame App 6.9! One person in particular has spawned 20 or so of these in a single day. Time to make use of the Hide button I guess. To get rid of the highly annoying App notifications, you want [Facebook Purity](http://steeev.site50.net/fbpurity/) - it works with Firefox, Opera, Chrome or Safari and removes all App notifications from your news stream. I think it was **Zsofia** I saw originally recommend it on here, so thanks to her! ---
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2010, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unfriending/530572/11 "2010-02-27T21:23:35Z")
Nothing will cure the gnawing insecurity and confused shame they will feel once they find out you have unfriended them. High school traumas of rejection will replay in their damaged psyches.