# Where do you draw the line, regarding unfriending on social media? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [September 29, 2018, 4:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-you-draw-the-line-regarding-unfriending-on-social-media/822154 "2018-09-29T04:29:59Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2018, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-you-draw-the-line-regarding-unfriending-on-social-media/822154/21 "2018-09-29T19:45:54Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > My friends tend to not be assholes, that’s why they’re my friends. … Yeah, pretty much this. Also, I’m “friends” with 39 of you fellow dopers and all of you are great. Well, except one former member who is banned now, but I keep him around for the occasional laugh. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2018, 12:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-you-draw-the-line-regarding-unfriending-on-social-media/822154/22 "2018-09-30T00:54:14Z")
> [@Heracles](#): > > OP, if I’m reading correctly, somebody posted something like “My kids weren’t a mistake but their father sure was” and you contacted them to recommend that they delete the post? Why? These were both people I knew personally, and liked, but they had gotten divorced (not from each other) and weren’t dealing with it well. As in, ex-husband got custody and she only has supervised visitation not dealing with it well. Bashing an ex or STBX on social media is a big no-no, especially if you have kids. I have also noticed that if a longtime poster all of a sudden makes post after post about how HAPPY they are, and they’re SO MUCH IN LOVE, yadda yadda yadda, their relationship status is probably going to revert to “it’s complicated” in very short order. That’s not the same as someone posting their wedding picture on their anniversary and saying something like “27 years ago I married my best friend.” One of the people I unfriended is someone who lives in another city and I am unlikely to ever see her again. The other one does business with me (long story) and I saw him earlier today. I had no idea he had such ignorant, radical beliefs until we Facebook-friended each other. ---
**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:** [September 30, 2018, 1:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-you-draw-the-line-regarding-unfriending-on-social-media/822154/23 "2018-09-30T01:03:04Z")
I don’t think I’ve ever unfriended anyone. Maybe unfollowed a handful of folks, but my feed is surprisingly non-annoying to me, even despite I don’t know about 5% of the people personally (out of five or six hundred). Maybe the Facebook algorithm sanitizes my feed, or I just tend not to tend to attract friend requests from assholes. Or I’m not easily riled. ---
**Author:** ![dalej42](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@dalej42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dalej42)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2018, 1:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-you-draw-the-line-regarding-unfriending-on-social-media/822154/24 "2018-09-30T01:42:20Z")
I haven’t unfriended anyone except for a few people that I only added back when I used to play FarmVille and other Facebook games. I’ve hid my posts from one person. He’s a nice enough guy in person, but I don’t need him praying for me just because I posted that I’ve got a headache and am heading to bed. I’m pretty much unfollowing one friend. She’s brilliant , but since she’s 1/64 Native American, she’s become obsessed with it. No, I don’t think it’s an act of racism if a Native American quarterback for a small town high school gets benched after throwing 3 interceptions. I do post political things, but I try to keep the the ratio low. And, if I post an article, I’ve read it and it’s from a reliable source. ---
**Author:** ![Uzi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/91b2a8/32.png) [@Uzi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Uzi)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2018, 2:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-you-draw-the-line-regarding-unfriending-on-social-media/822154/25 "2018-09-30T02:36:34Z")
I find managing permissions on FB to be unwieldy and intuitive. So, rather than bothering with doing it, I’ve recently gone through my friends list and unfriended most former co-workers whose contact only occurred at work and involved primarily work related discussions. Only family and close friends now. Any co-workers can connect on Linkedin. ---
**Author:** ![DavidwithanR](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/3bc359/32.png) [@DavidwithanR](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DavidwithanR)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2018, 3:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-you-draw-the-line-regarding-unfriending-on-social-media/822154/26 "2018-09-30T03:22:23Z")
I think each person’s standards should be their own. I think if someone (or something they do) makes them “overall, not really worth it” to you, and they are not close family, there’s no reason to keep them in any way. ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2018, 3:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-you-draw-the-line-regarding-unfriending-on-social-media/822154/27 "2018-09-30T03:50:32Z")
I once unfriended someone for political reasons, but regretted it later. To her great credit, the friend in question sent me a friend request a few months later, which I accepted. Otherwise, the only reasons I will unfriend are social, or else because of some specific circumstance that occurred between us. IIRC the only other time I unfriended someone was because I was sick of having my PMs ignored. I’ve talked about her before; she was the one who would just vanish for weeks right in the middle of a conversation. Due to our many shared interests I was always eager to have her finish what she was going to say, and she almost never did. It was as if I was Charlie Brown and she was Lucy, pulling the football away. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2018, 4:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-you-draw-the-line-regarding-unfriending-on-social-media/822154/28 "2018-09-30T04:47:07Z")
Hateful political memes are the only thing that have ever led to me unfriending someone. But I consider it more social than political: the problem was that they were making fun of and laughing at people who were suffering. For politics, I just tend to mute them or block the site until they go away. I do admit that, since Trump, I’ve let some liberal stuff through, though. Mostly because I’m happy to see it from kids in this conservative area. Oh, and one libertarian friend who is basically liberal now simply because of how politics have shifted. Edit: and there’s another friend (old lady college friend) I’m considering unfriending because she posts hateful pro-Trump memes all the time, out of nowhere. I may just unfollow her, though. ---
**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:** [September 30, 2018, 5:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-you-draw-the-line-regarding-unfriending-on-social-media/822154/29 "2018-09-30T05:36:16Z")
I keep my friend list pretty tight to begin with, so I don’t end up unfriending too many people. I get a steady stream of requests and I just don’t honor them. No one’s ever asked me about it when I see them, but my prepared statement is “I like to keep my friends list tight.” There are people I’ve had to un-friend. I tend not to unfollow, I just straight up un-friend. If I don’t want to see someone’s posts I definitely don’t want them seeing/commenting on my posts so away they go. ---
**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:** [September 30, 2018, 12:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-you-draw-the-line-regarding-unfriending-on-social-media/822154/30 "2018-09-30T12:25:21Z")
I have never seen the point in Unfollow. You don’t care enough enough this person’s opinion to see what they post but you still want them to see what you post? ---
**Author:** ![IvoryTowerDenizen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ivorytowerdenizen/32/17937_2.png) [@IvoryTowerDenizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IvoryTowerDenizen)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2018, 12:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-you-draw-the-line-regarding-unfriending-on-social-media/822154/31 "2018-09-30T12:35:52Z")
**Mod Hat On** Don’t threadshit. The topic is about using Facebook, so coming in a just saying it’s stupid is threadshitting. > [@Beckdawrek](#): > > I hate Facebook. Why does anybody use it? Everybody I know complains about it. > Apparently they had some kind of new hack today. I saw a bit about it on the news. ---
**Author:** ![IvoryTowerDenizen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ivorytowerdenizen/32/17937_2.png) [@IvoryTowerDenizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IvoryTowerDenizen)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2018, 12:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-you-draw-the-line-regarding-unfriending-on-social-media/822154/32 "2018-09-30T12:37:32Z")
> [@DrFidelius](#): > > I have never seen the point in Unfollow. You don’t care enough enough this person’s opinion to see what they post but you still want them to see what you post? It’s more about not insulting them by overtly defriending them. Friends of the family, family members, coworkers you regret friending etc. It’s a bit gentler and kinder than essentially “announcing” you don’t like them after all. ---
**Author:** ![Roy\_Batty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/4af34b/32.png) [@Roy\_Batty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roy_Batty)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2018, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-you-draw-the-line-regarding-unfriending-on-social-media/822154/33 "2018-09-30T15:54:37Z")
I feel Facebook & most social media is a blight on society. I think it’s pathetic that so many people are caught up in “friending”, “unfriending”, etc. Get off the fucking site. You probably haven’t met most/all of your “friends” IRL anyway, so having “friends” on FB is meaningless, in any case. Years ago, some asshole I used to be friends with IRL told me that I had to get a Facebook account because everyone else was doing it. I told this piece of garbage that I not only didn’t want a FB account, but that I would never get one. I then stopped talking to this person. So, I guess I “unfriended” someone in real life because of my not wanting to get a FB account - LOL. Fuck Facebook. I’m sure this post will result in people getting on here & defending FB. You can’t criticize the “holy FB site” without getting people up in arms about this - LOL. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Girlfriend](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr.girlfriend/32/193_2.png) [@Dr.Girlfriend](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Girlfriend)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2018, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-you-draw-the-line-regarding-unfriending-on-social-media/822154/34 "2018-09-30T16:41:27Z")
> [@Icarus](#): > > I don’t unfriend, but I do unfollow. And yes, it’s because of political postings. Mostly I’ll mark posts as “I want to see less of this”. I don’t want to read their crap. It’s my Facebook feed, and I’ll curate it as I see fit. But then again, I don’t post and especially I don’t argue with people on FB, can’t see the point of that. This. If I find myself marking more and more of someone’s posts as “I want to see less of this” then it’s time to unfollow for a while. Sometimes I check back in after a while to see if they’re still posting the same crap. ---
**Author:** ![IvoryTowerDenizen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ivorytowerdenizen/32/17937_2.png) [@IvoryTowerDenizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IvoryTowerDenizen)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2018, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-you-draw-the-line-regarding-unfriending-on-social-media/822154/35 "2018-09-30T18:11:52Z")
**Warning Issued** Don’t like Facebook? Start your own thread. This is threadshitting. I gave instructions to not post like this only two posts above yours. It’d have been a problematic post no matter what, but just after I mod noted someone else? That’s a warning. > [@Roy\_Batty](#): > > I feel Facebook & most social media is a blight on society. I think it’s pathetic that so many people are caught up in “friending”, “unfriending”, etc. Get off the fucking site. You probably haven’t met most/all of your “friends” IRL anyway, so having “friends” on FB is meaningless, in any case. > > Years ago, some asshole I used to be friends with IRL told me that I had to get a Facebook account because everyone else was doing it. I told this piece of garbage that I not only didn’t want a FB account, but that I would never get one. I then stopped talking to this person. So, I guess I “unfriended” someone in real life because of my not wanting to get a FB account - LOL. > > Fuck Facebook. > > I’m sure this post will result in people getting on here & defending FB. You can’t criticize the “holy FB site” without getting people up in arms about this - LOL. ---
**Author:** ![boytyperanma](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4491bb/32.png) [@boytyperanma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/boytyperanma)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2018, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-you-draw-the-line-regarding-unfriending-on-social-media/822154/36 "2018-09-30T18:15:19Z")
I unfollow anyone who makes more than two political posts in a day. I unfriend people who post content that would make me not want not be friends outside of Facebook. ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2018, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-you-draw-the-line-regarding-unfriending-on-social-media/822154/37 "2018-09-30T18:17:16Z")
Only unfriended two people. One was posting _only_ right-wing garbage. I have other friends who occasionally do but not so much as to unfriend. I have lots of friends who occasionally post left-wing BS but I have a higher tolerance for it since it is less harmful. The other friend I unfriended always took me to task because she thought I was a music snob, so one time I was about to post something that I knew she would probably harp on me for, so I toned it way down, and she still came in with her same old more-open-minded-than-thou routine. Not gonna keep playing that dance, thanks. Bye bye. ---
**Author:** ![DavidwithanR](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/3bc359/32.png) [@DavidwithanR](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DavidwithanR)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2018, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-you-draw-the-line-regarding-unfriending-on-social-media/822154/38 "2018-09-30T21:43:43Z")
> [@"Be My Yoko Ono" by The Barenaked Ladies](#): > > If there is someone you can live without, then do so; > And if there’s someone you can just shove out, then do so. That 1992 song couldn’t have been about Facebook originally, but it sure is about Facebook now. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2018, 11:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-you-draw-the-line-regarding-unfriending-on-social-media/822154/39 "2018-09-30T23:30:16Z")
In general I have only unfriended people that I probably didn’t know well enough to friend in the first place. Every now and then I’ll go through and dump those I don’t care enough about to keep. I don’t remember if I’ve ever done it for ideas I don’t like. ---
**Author:** ![EmilyG](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/emilyg/32/364_2.png) [@EmilyG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EmilyG)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2018, 12:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-you-draw-the-line-regarding-unfriending-on-social-media/822154/40 "2018-10-01T00:19:00Z")
If someone annoys me enough, I unfriend them. But it takes a lot for that to happen. If they have extreme political views that I find hateful, I’ll unfriend them. If they’re annoying but I don’t hate them, I’ll just unfollow them. Or if they keep annoying me personally, I’ll unfriend them (for example, quite a few people have tried to chat me up on social media.) I rarely unfriend anyone, and I usually don’t unfriend anyone I know in real life. But if someone annoys me enough, I not only unfriend them, but block them so I won’t have to deal with their possibly still harassing me through Messenger or anything else. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-you-draw-the-line-regarding-unfriending-on-social-media/822154.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-you-draw-the-line-regarding-unfriending-on-social-media/822154.md?page=3)