Sometimes having a lot of friends on facebook can mean a lot of things, but I think it just masks a lack of confidence in some of us.

I used to add people I didn't know on facebook, because I wanted to have as many pals as possible without caring about whom I was adding. But then, as I grew up, I just did away with that mindset and started reducing my pals little by little. Today I have less than 150 friends and just recently deleted more than 70 people whom I personally knew but who were a source of stress to me.

I must say though that reading status by people I was not too familiar with was kind of fun. I remember that of a girl who had more than 5000 friends complaining that guys won't stop asking her out.

Over to you: how many facebook pals have you got?
How many do you personally know?
What are your criterion for adding people?

Less than 150.

Anybody from NL?

About 5 or 6 ppl. lol

I know ppl with over 1200 friends and I wonder what is really the point of it. It's not like LinkedIn where more connection means more open doors at career advancement.

michelin89: I remember that of a girl who had more than 5000 friends complaining that guys won't stop asking her out.

Did you see that?

I think they just want to be popular.

about 750 friends and i know more than 700 of them personally .

You must have a very lively and happy social life.

I'm more of an indoor person and my facebook pals are just a few of the people I really know.

michelin89: You must have a very lively and happy social life.

I'm more of an indoor person and my facebook pals are just a few of the people I really know.

. . . . more like a busy one. That I know them all doesn't mean, i see them like everyday; a lot of them are good and close friends from way back and people i know from all the different schools i attended, places i worked and a bunch of relatives.

I would give a number, but I honestly don't know. But that doesn't mean it's high. Neither does it mean that it's low. It only means that I don't exactly care much to know.

I feel a lot of us are too psychologically attached, to this facebook thingy. I mean, why let an inner me, re-evaluate what i do/did with a facebook friends list? My real pals know better than sending moi messages on facebook. Infact, they're real because we can always connect via phone. So whoever's doing the ask out, might as well ask away. Until I'm sober enough, to log on again.

I can go 2-3months without logging on to my account, given that it's not so important in my life. So whenever I do, how much d'you imagine will be there and fun to do? Without actually going on a confirmation beano?

I think 80 something and I know all of them in person.
My criteria? well if I get a request and say you are only a friend of my friend I don't really bother cz I know nothing about you.
FB for me is a chit chat 'get to catch up with people I know place.' Now I cannot claim to be an oprah,Besides I love knowing how each of my friend is fairing on and the only way to do that is to keep the numbers minimal.
Other professional sites exist where I keep serious biz friends.

Should be <100! I actually decided never to exceed 50. I know 98% and the remaining 2% are NLndrs.
I wont add you if I dont know you (atleast the online character)

Im not a facebook kind of person but I opened an account to follow some organizations. I had so many friend requests from all over the globe it became overwhelming. It was intriguing and interesting for a while but it was very strange to be reading about the lives of people I never met or knew. I finally just let it all go! Seems facebook is best for interacting with people you know for real.

talina: Im not a facebook kind of person but I opened an account to follow some organizations. I had so many friend requests from all over the globe it became overwhelming. It was intriguing and interesting for a while but it was very strange to be reading about the lives of people I never met or knew. I finally just let it all go! Seems facebook is best for interacting with people you know for real.

That's what got me to add FB.

pendo89: I think 80 something and I know all of them in person.
My criteria? well if I get a request and say you are only a friend of my friend I don't really bother cz I know nothing about you.
FB for me is a chit chat 'get to catch up with people I know place.' Now I cannot claim to be an oprah,Besides I love knowing how each of my friend is fairing on and the only way to do that is to keep the numbers minimal.
Other professional sites exist where I keep serious biz friends.

Please check your messages

I'm not on Facebook

@michelin89
It is so amazing that you seem to tie almost everything to a lack of confidence. Tomorrow I won't be surprised if you come out with "if you are on facebook you lack confidence".

Big deal that you deleted 70 people off your list. IMHO it only shows you are the one with the issues.

Childish
Very very childish post! So you have ntn to discuss except how many frndz on FB? Mstcheeew

Lol that's a good question, I have a lot of Facebook friends because I stayed in Nigeria. So there are soo many people I don't know personally on it. But went to my secondary school, or is part of the same organisation, is a family friend and soo on and so forth.
I don't think it means I lack anything, if anything most of my friends have the same number and personally know every single one. It depends on how much of a people person you are.
Facebook is the best way to keep in contact nowadays, i love it too much!

I once search for a close female friend of mine when we were in secondary school I got her account details and was about sending her a request when I noticed that she had over 2000 friends. The two of us were closed then but 2000 friends? Abeg I vex close the page fast

Having so many friends on facebook isnt lack of confidence in anyway.
How else do u meet new people?
I suggest u change ur way of thinking

Can som1 please teach me what that facebook is all about, anytime I logging,honestly I can't understand what's going on there,it seems no1 is talking to no1 and every1 is talking to every1,
I have learn but can't understand that site,
The site just dey like a market place to me

Mynd_44: I once search for a close female friend of mine when we were in secondary school I got her account details and was about sending her a request when I noticed that she had over 2000 friends. The two of us were closed then but 2000 friends? Abeg I vex close the page fast

Why would the number friends on a person's facebook account be vexing to you? With 2000 friends she probably doesn't need you too.

over 1000 friends, I've met all @ least once in my lifetime.

Mynd_44: I once search for a close female friend of mine when we were in secondary school I got her account details and was about sending her a request when I noticed that she had over 2000 friends. The two of us were closed then but 2000 friends? Abeg I vex close the page fast

Shallow mind!

joeydozzy: I'm not on Facebook

Same here! Weird rite? Dats Bado for u.

Lord_Reed:

Why would the number friends on a person's facebook account be vexing to you? With 2000 friends she probably doesn't need you too.

That is the point. She does not need me.
I imagined that atleast 500 of those people would be active and everything would be too mixed up and so, I just walked

Mynd_44:
That is the point. She does not need me.
I imagined that atleast 500 of those people would be active and everything would be too mixed up and so, I just walked

So why the vex?

Lord_Reed: @michelin89
It is so amazing that you seem to tie almost everything to a lack of confidence. Tomorrow I won't be surprised if you come out with "if you are on facebook you lack confidence".

Big deal that you deleted 70 people off your list. IMHO it only shows you are the one with the issues.

I guess that when a man kills a mosquito, it's because he had issues with it and the fact that the mosquito was actually sucking his blood becomes totally irrelevant. I didn't have issues with the people I deleted because I still get to meet them from time to time - when I choose though. It's not everybody I know I want to reveal some aspects of my life to. It's just a matter of being comfortable and choosing when to interact with certain people.

Anyways, I do believe that it has to do with confidence, because the number of friends people have on facebook is inversely proportional to their age and to the number of years they've spent on the social network.

Even celebrities now have their personal pages separated from their public life (talking about fanpages). I have just a celebrity on my friend list and I added her years ago when she was just new to facebook. I wouldn't be surprised if she deleted me from her list. Totally comprehensible. I'd just become a fan.

Omolola1: Having so many friends on facebook isnt lack of confidence in anyway.
How else do u meet new people?
I suggest u change ur way of thinking

I used to think that way too: how do I meet new people then I changed my mind of thinking: I meet new people in my everyday life if I become more outgoing. I have never been an outgoing person and even when I tried to be I always ended up missing my reserve and tranquil life indoors. It's just my person and I can't do much about it. Having so many friends on facebook didn't reflect my nature of a peace lover, because I don't like surrounding myself with stressful elements.

michelin89:

I guess that when a man kills a mosquito, it's because he had issues with it and the fact that the mosquito was actually sucking his blood becomes totally irrelevant. I didn't have issues with the people I deleted because I still get to meet them from time to time - when I choose though. It's not everybody I know I want to reveal some aspects of my life to. It's just a matter of being comfortable and choosing when to interact with certain people.

Anyways, I do believe that it has to do with confidence, because the number of friends people have on facebook is inversely proportional to their age and to the number of years they've spent on the social network.

According to you the longer someone has spent on Facebook the less friends he/she would have same for age. Gosh you are quite something you know. So the fact that I am 40 years of age and have been on Facebook since inception means I should delete my friends I have met and built up for the past 30+ years because I want to show I have self confidence, LoL. Anyway thats your theory since it works for you fine but for the rest of us who have thousands of friends on our list we also a quite happy thank you very much.

Lord_Reed:

According to you the longer someone has spent on Facebook the less friends he/she would have same for age. Gosh you are quite something you know. So the fact that I am 40 years of age and have been on Facebook since inception means I should delete my friends I have met and built up for the past 30+ years because I want to show I have self confidence, LoL. Anyway thats your theory since it works for you fine but for the rest of us who have thousands of friends on our list we also a quite happy thank you very much.

You are not welcome. Because you obviously misunderstood my post. Just saying that the longer one stays on facebook and the older they get, the less they'll be likely to maintain friendship with strangers or with people who are not so close to them.

michelin89:

You are not welcome. Because you obviously misunderstood my post. Just saying that the longer one stays on facebook and the older they get, the less they'll be likely to maintain friendship with strangers or with people who are not so close to them.

And I am saying your correlation is moot. Personality will trump in this matter. People who like to socialise will do so unless they change their minds. I used to be an avid Facebook-er and when I slowed down my FB friends were asking me what happened and what happened is I got more interested in Nairaland so in other words I have switched my socialising to another platform. Same with others who switched to Twitter. Socialising is a personality thing.

You are right. People's sociability has a lot to do with their personality, but the older they grow, the more they tend to connect only with those people who are essential to them.