[k3n]

> Get their emails/phone numbers, call them once in awhile, grab a coffee.

That works great for those ex-classmates or work friends, who just so happen to live in the same town (or same area of a large town) as you, but that's not why I use FB -- I use it to keep tabs on family. Family members too busy for an hour-long weekly phone call (or I'm too busy to make time for 5-10 of these weekly calls) and too far removed for in-person visits to be viable every few months.

Your advice may work for some, but it falls flat for a lot of common use-cases.

[rfnslyr]

If your only form of communication is random updates/photos from them that you don't actively seek, then you don't really care in the first place do you? You're just consuming because it's there.

Nobody is too busy for a short phone call once in awhile.

[k3n]

> If your only form of communication is random updates/photos from them that you don't actively seek, then you don't really care in the first place do you?

Well that's a rather hasty judgement...

Firstly, I didn't say it was my only communication. Secondly, it does a lot to help fill in the gaps between meetings/conversations.

> Nobody is too busy for a short phone call once in awhile.

And nobody said phone calls are the only -- or even preferred -- means of communication.