Nov 3

I was watching Jimmy Kimmel on Wednesday night and he has declared November 17th as National Unfriend Day - a day to trim off all the excess friends (who really aren't your friends) on Facebook. He expresses that the social network has diminished the value of the word "friend."

 

Sure, it's great to catch up with old pals who you have lost touch with and I think that is a upside to Facebook. But I have seen others "friend" people who were never their friends at all, just to confirm that that person has not succeeded more in life than they have themselves. This is no reason to "friend." If this is the case, you should instead hit a "Frienemy" button. I've seen people try to compete for the most friends on Facebook. This is no reason to "friend." It's even a good idea to eliminate people you may have accepted without even knowing who they are. One BBC news source explains that we need to focus on the importance of "contacts not content."

 

Kimmel states, "A friend is someone you have a special relationship with. It's not someone who has a 'Which Harry Potter character are you?' Do you remember five years ago when no one was on Facebook and you didn't know what the guy in high school biology was having for lunch? Remember how that was fine? Let's go back to that. National Unfriend Day."