Mom Blogger Face-off: Do you limit your Facebook account to just “real” friends?

@AudreyMcClellan

When I started on Facebook three years ago, I just “friended” people that I was actually friends with, but then curiosity got the best of me and I started connecting with people that I hadn’t spoken to in years! Oh, yes… even ex-boyfriends!

I guess you could say the privacy was gone. People can’t believe it, but I’m friends with some people on Facebook whom I haven’t actually seen in over 15 years. And then I did something that probably wasn’t the smartest thing to do: I opened up my personal account to my business contacts.

As a blogger, I thought it made sense because I’m constantly online and sharing personal information, so I thought it was a logical extension.

Right now I’m almost capped at 5000 “friends” on Facebook and I can honestly say that I only actually talk to about 3 percent of those people on a daily basis, but that doesn’t bother me. My husband gets worried about me “friending” people I don’t know because sometimes I share information that is very private, especially when it comes to our sons.

He has about 500 friends on Facebook and they’re people that he actually does know very well. But, the problem is, I started out this way, and truthfully, right now… it’s just too much for me to go back and change anything.

@MyGOMOM

I believe firmly in private Facebook for family and friends. First, I believe in business vs. pleasure. In social media, there is always the significant confusion between the two and for me, I choose to keep them separate.

My Facebook fan page is business based and therefore is where a company should be looking to leverage my numbers, not leveraging my personal life for professional gain.

While I draw on my experience as a mom in my work, my background as a meeting and event planner makes me a natural fit for my category as an expert in time management and home organization.

Second, it’s friends vs. acquaintances. I agree with your husband, Matt: too many friends isn’t a good thing. And as we teach our sons to learn the ropes of Facebook, it’s all about teaching them the difference between a real friend and an acquaintance.

Challenge yourself this way — do you really want 357 people to know what your child said to you on the way to school? And frankly, do you really think they honestly care?

Even with hundreds of FB friends, there will only truly be a handful you actually engage with on an ongoing basis. So why risk all the rest just of rate sake of being polite and being “friends”?