Top 3 Reasons people get ‘unfriended’ on Facebook

Unfriending means “When a Facebook user removes a person from his Friends List”

A first-of-its -kind comprehensive study, by Dr. Christopher Sibona, a PhD student in the Computer Science and Information Systems program at University of Colorado Denver Business School has revealed:

1) the top reasons for Facebook unfriending
2) who is unfriended
3) how people react to being unfriended

After surveying more than 1,500 Facebook users on Twitter, the researcher found the 3 main reasons people get ‘unfriended’ on Facebook. The 3 reasons are(from most important to least important):

1) Frequent, unimportant posts or updates.
2) Posting about polarizing topics like religion and politics. In Sibona’s words – if such topics are not welcomes in office parties; they are unwelcome online as well.
3) Inappropriate posts, such as crude or racist comments

But the above three are the online reasons for unfriending; people are unfriended for their offline behavior as well. But among the two, online behavior was seen to be outpacing the offline behavior (57 out of every 100 are unfrieneded for their online behavior). 26 out of every 100 people were unfriended for their offline behavior (like an office colleague people added as their friend; but later don’t approve of his/her behavior at office).

One key finding of the study is its bringing to light, the presence of hierarchy of dominant and subordinate relationships online; just like the one we witness in real world. So as obvious, one can take cue from real world; those making friend requests at Facebook stood a much higher chance of being abruptly unfriended. As something falling in line; those doing the unfriending of such subordinate Facebook users, seemed to hold the upper hand in the relationship. --------

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