Hacker News new | ask | show | jobs
by ben1040 5615 days ago
I found that much of the "noise" on Facebook comes from the fact that I had too many "e-friends" at even 100-110 people.

It was still well under the Dunbar[1] threshold, as I knew who they all were and could probably spend an hour on each one of them telling you how I knew them in high school or college, etc. But I simply got no value out of seeing a post from a woman I dated briefly in college 9 years ago talking about what new yoga studio she was teaching at, or from an old high school classmate saying what airport he was currently passing through.

The noise was just too loud and overpowering. I ended up deleting my account.

A few months later I came back under a made-up new email address so those folks wouldn't find me again. My e-friends list now is only about 40 people, cut way down -- specifically people I see every week or two or people I would otherwise invite into my home without any hesitation.

With less noise from people I simply don't care much about anymore, I see useful things. And I feel better about sharing a interesting news article from HN or a picture from a dinner party with my small inner circle, without feeling like I'm spamming dozens of people who just don't care.

[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunbars_number

1 comments

It's very easy to hide people from your news feed without having to actively avoid them. Click the X next to their posts.
Of course, they're less likely to get angry with you if they just think you've gotten off Facebook entirely than if they think you're ignoring them while still accessible to them.
They have no way of knowing you've hidden them.
They know whether you respond.
Unless they tag you in a post (in which case, you'd get a notification), I really don't know how many people respond to EVERY SINGLE post of EVERY SINGLE friend on facebook.
Are you aware that getting responses never is equivalent to being ignored, at least in most people's minds? On what planet do you live where people carry on a relationship that involves dead silence on one side?