Clearing up my Facebook friends list

Every year around the start of Spring, I take a fresh look at who I am friends with on Facebook and other social media platforms. Then I clear the list to remain with who I want in my circle.

Clearing up my Facebook friends list
Virtual friends

This year, life happened and I did not get around to doing it in September. But now I am.

This year I based my decisions on a saying: “Show me your friends, and I’ll show you your future.”

I looked at all my Facebook friends and evaluated them on these criteria:

  1. Friends who are friends because you picked each other up somewhere along the road – Habit Friends.
  2. Friends who are friends because they add value to your experience – Keeper Friends.
  3. Friends who just listen to what you have to say but feel no need to contribute – Silent Friends.
  4. Friends who became friends because one or more of your posts resonated with their beliefs – Maybe Friends. They may troll you if you say something that does not fit in with their existing beliefs.
  5. Friends whose identity is not defined by a belief or point of view – Free Spirits. They grow each day because they don’t have to break friendships to defend a conviction.
  6. Friends you want to keep for any other reason than the value they provide – Just Friends. They come from other places, which could be that they come from a fleeting experience you had that involved them.
  7. Friends who are friends because of what they are, not what they have or do – Super Friends. Those are the friends who never say “I know how you feel”, but who say: “I don’t know how you feel because I am not you. But I am here, tell me how you feel”.
  8. Friends who will fit in best with what I will be doing in the next year – Value Friends. Friends who will enhance whatever development route I take.
  9. Friends who don’t contribute to your well-being – Parasite Friends. They are not here for any other reason than to benefit themselves. Those friends who will not respond to a simple request to share your new venture or business or who will have an excuse. In real life, when you start a new business, those are the friends who will ask for a “special price”. They won’t visit your business to make a token purchase to show their support.
  10. Friends whose every social media post starts with “I” – “I” Friends. Their only sentences that start without “I’ are requests for something that benefits them.
  11. Friends who would pop you an unexpected message asking: “What can I do for you today that will help you?” – Non Existent Friends.

Then I decided on which friends I needed to keep and which ones I could go without into the future. Those that I would not realize are not friends anymore if they disappeared.

Then I “sanitized” my Facebook friends list for 2022.