Do you have Facebook friends that are sort of on the periphery? Or friends you accepted just to be Southernly courteous? Or friends suggested by other people but now you don't know why you're sharing pictures of your family with them?
Life sometimes changes; Facebook interactions change, so deleting a friend today might be a regret down the road. So what is another option? Using Facebook created lists.
In the lists area (one way to get there is to move your mouse over Friends on the left-hand column and click on More) Facebook users can see Facebook created lists at the top. The two that I learned about today were Acquaintances and Restricted.
Friends that are added into Restricted only see your public posts. Anything shared with Friends or more restricted sharing are not visible to restricted friends. However, you still see their posts in your newsfeed.
Friends that are added into Acquaintances have their posts reduced onto your newsfeed. However, those friends can still see posts that are shared to Friends or less restrictive sharing.
Have friends that you want to see less of and want them to see less of your posts? Easy--just add them to both the Acquaintances and the Restricted lists.
But they are still listed as your Facebook friend.
With that said, I have some uncomfortable feelings about this. It's like saying: you're my friend, but I'm not sharing anything with you. On the other hand, it might be good strategy to friend your co-worker or supervisor but reduce the number of posts seen so that potentially embarrasing statuses are shared with people outside of work. I guess the ethical dilemma is each person's problem. But the options are there to keep your friends with the ability to change how you appear to them.
