Reasons to "unfriend" someone on Facebook:
I've unfriended a few folks on Facebook over the years, and I've just recently unfriended a person for a reason completely different from any I've done before.
1. I've unfriended people who slipped past my radar and revealed themselves to be completely obstinate, nearly sociopathic, individuals who criticize everything and everyone. These are spotted rather easily and losing them is also done easily.
2. I've unfriended someone I knew in the 1970s when he worked with me in the Navy. I thought he was kind of a jerk then, but 40 years or so had passed, and I was glad to reach out to him. Things went well for a couple of months and then one day he just lit into me over having "an opinion" he did not share. There was nothing personal about him or me. I concluded that "once a jerk, always a jerk" is likely a sound adage.
3. I've unfriended several individuals who sought my friendship because of things I'd posted on a variety of subjects. I'm always willing to include, and to be included by, others in my daily reading and posting who share similar tastes. BUT...a few of these folks turn into ravening loons....they suddenly disagree on something rather inconsequential (such as my personal preference for a composer) and they attack my opinion rather than just positing a different opinion. Then they won't let it go but continue following me around and attacking everything. They even send me private messages telling me how wrong I am and listing their "sound" reasons for converting me to their way of thinking. Those people do not last very long on my Friends list.
4. I unfriended a longtime friend who, one evening, was posting while he was drinking. He solicited opinions from his friends on who they might support in the next election. When I posted, he became ugly and confrontational. I dropped him on the spot and will not respond to anything he posts anywhere (I still see him post because we share friends whose posts we both respond to).
5. I unfriended another longtime friend (and, I thought, one of the all-around good guys in this world) who was drinking while he posted. He became absolutely belligerent when I posted an opinion he did not share about a film score. I dropped him immediately, as well.
(I grew up with an alcoholic father. I abhor alcohol-induced belligerence. Anyone who is drinking should never post on Facebook while doing so!!!)
6. Yesterday, I unfriended someone I admire and respect. My dealings with this person have always been civil and supportive of each other's opinion. Once, last week, this person wrote something political to which I agreed and shared a few meme's supporting the viewpoint being discussed. I received a private message letting me know how much my friendship meant but that the memes were NOT what was wanted in the discussion and had been removed. Yesterday, this person posted a video. I believe that in so doing, an invitation had been issued to discuss what we saw. I made a comment about the "star" of the video. I found out a bit later that my comment was NOT what was wanted in the discussion...that the intent was not to make observations about the star but to appreciate the aging star's appearance regardless of what I think of it. Oh...that hadn't been clear at all to me. I simply commented on the one thing that was apparent to me (and a couple of others who agreed with me) when watching the video The star did not look like herself any longer, probably as a result of cosmetic surgery. At that point, I realized that control, rather than sharing differing opinions, was all that mattered in this case.
Oh, well. I unfriended so that I would not be tempted to share, and possibly offend by doing so, anything on any post made by this person in the future. While I continue to respect and admire this person, I do not care to have anyone tell me what is relevant when I post a thought to a post. Facebook is a social media...what you put out there to your friends is subject to differing views...not just the ones you hold. It's not a "controlled" media.
Live and learn, I guess.
