Skip to main content

Unfriended: The ultimate breakup

WASHINGTON — You have been tossed aside. Dumped.

Unfriended.

According to a study done at the University of Colorado Business School, some people are traumatized, deeply hurt or angry when someone defriends them from Facebook. But other think it’s pretty funny.

The recently updated 2010 research sought to know why people unfriend their friends and how they feel about it.

The data from the more than 1,500 Facebook users that completed the survey told lead researcher Christopher Sibona there are four main reasons from pulling the trigger.

  • posting high volumes of boring and uninteresting status updates
  • posting inappropriate and offensive comments
  • posts on religion or politics that don’t align with person’s views
  • Some get the boot for everyday postings like baby pictures or what they had for lunch

First to go are high school friends. While there there may have been a bond in third period English class, many have since grown apart. Views once shared may change and there’s no longer common ground. The old friend becomes an unfriend.

Work buddies are another casualty of Facebook friending. Breaking up with them had more to do with what they did offline than what they posted online.

Click here to see the full study.

Follow @WTOP on Twitter and WTOP on Facebook.

Emergency guide: What you should do to prepare for emergencies

WASHINGTON — Do you know what you'd do if an emergency hits? What if you're at work, your spouse is stuck in traffic and your children are in school? There's no way to plan for every emergency, but you can make sure you're prepared for different scenarios, including making a plan for your family and building a kit of emergency supplies.
Read Next Story