Nov 6 2010 update:
This article just became much more relevant after Facebook introduced the Facebook Friendship Page feature on Oct 29, 2010.

Many, if not most, Facebook users have more friends on their Facebook Friends list than are good for them. Having more Facebook Friends means more people are watching you. There more people to waste your time, even if just having to sift through their updates to find ones from people you care about. There are also more people who could use something on your profile against you in some way, even if it’s just gossip, possibly from misunderstandings or unintentionally. We’re not even talking about potential creeps and malicious people here, who you don’t know well but had casually added as Facebook friends over time.

On a different topic, there are all kinds of Facebook memes, or trends, going on all the time. Facebook tagging is big. Facebook notes get passed along. There was that 25 Things You Didn’t Know About Me thing that only helped making your ID easier to steal. Then there were the baby photos or retro photos trend that also helped in the case.

So how’s about putting the two together for something useful?

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A challenge to remove 5 Facebook Friends and pass it on!

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These would be “friends” in the loosest sense of the word, of course, not any real friends. I don’t think most people need any help to do this challenge if they want to take it up. That’s how frivolous I think the Facebook Friends thing has become for most Facebook users. However, if you need help or want to do a more serious purging, check out some of my criteria for identifying Facebook Friends you can remove without a lot of consequences.

I took up my own challenge, of course, and went way over 5.

Can you?

If you don’t take the challenge, maybe just ask yourself, can I remove 5 Facebook Friends from my list? It’ll give you an idea of the state of your Facebook Friends list to where it maybe should be.

If you can remove 5 Facebook Friends from that thought experiment, maybe you ought to reconsider, especially now that you know you can. It’s just some clicking and scrolling now. 🙂

Or try it Facebook tagging style! (obviously you can’t tag these friends’ profiles, but you can tag and type in their names)

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Other Facebook issue posts on my site:

Which Were the Most Popular and Interesting Cartoons You Saw for the Facebook Campaign Against Child Abuse?

Which Facebook Friends Should I Remove?

“Study” on Facebook Narcissism and Insecurity not REAL Research

A Few Thoughts on Facebook Friends (and some polls)

How to Cancel or Retract Friend Requests on Facebook… and Why?

The Prejudices and Privacy Perils of Facebook Quizzes

How to Get Rid of Your Facebook Past

25 Things For Facebook You Can’t Steal My ID With

25 Things You Gave on Facebook to Help Get Your ID Stolen

Una Guía de Netiqueta Práctica para Facebook

A Practical Facebook Etiquette (Netiquette) Guide

Flesch-Kincaid Grade Reading Level: 7.1