Do you even know half of the people on your friends list? We’re guessing not! Imagine having them on your feeds when you barely even know them. That can really be annoying! A study featured on Scientific American notes that on Facebook, you “can really only maintain about 150 meaningful relationships at any time.” Well, we are not encouraging you to delete 850 from your 1k friends. However, you do have to streamline your friends list.
CAUTION: Do not unfriend or block people during a moment of anger or heightened emotions. Do this purge with a clear head. Remember, life milestones are only official if they’re “social media official,” removing someone from your list can be considered as a form of rejection.
If you’re the kind of person who continually adds and follows friends and acquaintances and news sites and brands to your social media account but never removes anyone, it’s time.
Who should you Mute, Block, Unfollow, and Unfriend?
1. People who are no longer in your life.
Paring your feeds down to the people who are currently in your life helps you focus your social media energy on the people and relationships that are most important to you. “The people you care about won’t be buried among the people you passively follow. “
2. People who regularly spread negativity.
Is someone you follow or on your friends list always angry, resentful and unhappy? If so, you can probably feel them sucking the life out of you by imposing their negativity and pessimism on your feeds. Being around people and seeing their posts, who complain 24/7 and always see the life as a glass half empty, is not only not fun, it’s also dangerous for you.
3. Accounts that no longer represent your current interests and goals.
You may now following a number of “inspirational/aspirational” social media accounts. They might also be motivational accounts, humor accounts, publications you like to read, people whose perspectives you value. Do these accounts represent your current interests? It’s probably time to say goodbye to some of them —and maybe follow a few new accounts that better reflect who you are right now.
Why should you do this social media purge?
Streamlining your list can be nice to the eyes, but the intangible benefits outweigh how clean your timeline looks all of a sudden.
1. You get to limit the people who see what you’re up to.
Privacy may be an illusion in the age of social media—that doesn’t mean that you can’t control the information you put out or the number of people in your circle who can see them. Before you even try using filters, cull your friends list to get things started. You’d be surprised at the number of people you don’t even know that you’ve added.
2. You get less noise.
And you actually get to see people whose lives you’re really interested in. Sure, there’s the hide button for friends you don’t wan’t updates from, but nothing’s better than a clean cut with those who you’re sure don’t even remember your existence. Why waste bandwidth?
3. You’re less likely to experience the “fear of missing out” or FOMO.
Your high school batchmates are all partying in a yacht, and while they’re not really your BFFs, you may feel a bit left out, but don’t worry! It just proves that (1) it’s the sort of content that you don’t need, and (2) you don’t really care much for them and can now delete them (because really, the last time you spoke was circa 1996). Besides, you don’t need to compare their paths with your own. Work at your own pace, and don’t let social media fool you into thinking you’re not doing enough.
4. You feel lighter.
You just will, and it’s probably because what you’ll get to see after cleaning your friends list are only the people who give you joy. And before you ask: yup, it’s worth it.
