Ever scroll through your Facebook newsfeed and find yourself only interested in the activities of a small portion of your Facebook friends?

Or, if you are more of a LinkedIn user, do you find yourself trying to remember how you know the people whose posts you see in your newsfeed or wondering why you’re connected to them?

Whether your social media platform of choice is Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, and/or another social site, likely you have some connections you would rather not have anymore.

I suggest that every few months you take the time to review your connections. Determine if you really are interested in the personal activities of all your Facebook friends, the business news of all your LinkedIn connections, and/or all the things everyone you are following on Twitter tweets about.

Different Approaches to the Number of Connections and Options Short of Disconnecting

Now I realize that there are wide differences of approach among social media users in terms of the ideal or desired number of connections. Some of us, like me for example, are fine with being connected with a large number of people. Others are much more selective about whom they connect with in the first place. But, no matter what your approach is, there are likely some folks who have found their way into your connections that you just don’t have an interest in any longer.

If for some reason, you are OK with your connections seeing your posts, but you don’t want to see their posts, you have some choices: stop following them on Facebook, mute them on Twitter, or hide their posts on LinkedIn.

This way, you haven’t severed the connection completely, but you don’t have to see their posts. Remember, all of these actions are reversible, and the person at the other end of the connection is not notified that you have changed their status.

 

Some Ways to Know When It’s Time to Remove a Connection

• When you consistently skip their status updates (this could be due to a waning interest in their lives, discovering that your perspectives on life are widely divergent, or something else.)
• You honestly can’t remember how you know this person, and checking their page doesn’t jog your memory.
• You used to have a strong shared mutual interest (perhaps a hobby or a cause), and you or they no longer embrace that interest.
• They post far more frequently and/or different types of posts than they did when you first connected.

How About You?

What is your policy relative reviewing your social media connections? Do you tend to cull more folks on one site more than on others? What kinds of criteria (if any) do you use in making these decisions?

 

About Joyce

Joyce Feustel helps people, especially those age 50 and up, to become more comfortable using social media, especially Facebook, LinkedIn, Pinterest, and Twitter.

She works with business owners, nonprofit organizations, retired people, consultants, and many others. Find her at www.boomerssocialmediatutor.com.