A recent study has shown that we become sick and tired of a contact’s endless peachy updates is the number one reason for unfriending on the social media site.
The poll found that we are more likely to hide a friend’s updates or un-friend them altogether if we perceive their news as veiled boasting.
The site spoke to 820 members of Facebook and asked them what, if anything, had driven them to unfriend.
Top Ten Reasons For Unfriending
1. Bragging 68%
2. Gushing / lovey dovey updates 61%
3. Don’t see them in real world 57%
4. Too frequent 49%
5. Annoying status updates 41%
6. Inappropriate photos 34%
7. Too personal 27%
8. Bad language 22%
9. Friending our friends 14%
10. Jealous of their holidays 11%
More than two thirds of those questioned, 68%, said they had unfriended someone after becoming fed up of their endless bragging about how amazing their life was.
Almost as many, 61%, said they has become jaded with their friend’s constant updates about how much they love their partner and how wonderful their relationship is.
A pragmatic 57% said they had unfriended contacts simply because they didn’t see them in the real world and no longer thought of them as a friend.
Almost half of the Facebook members, 49%, said they had unfriended people because their status updates were too frequent and numerous.
Annoying updates were enough to make 41% of Facebook users hit the unfriend button while inappropriate photos caused just over one third to unfriend.
Updates that were too personal were a turn off for more than a quarter of users with 27% choosing to unfriend for this reason.
Bad language in status updates was given as a reason for unfriending by more than one fifth, 22%, of users.
Seeing our friends connect with others from our friend list whom we suspect they don’t actually know was enough to make 14% unfriend.
Finally 11% of Facebook users admitted to unfriending simply because they were jealous of a contact’s great holidays.
A woman who took part in the study commented: “Facebook is a great way to stay in touch and share information but some people just don’t seem to set any boundaries on there.
“Some of the information they are prepared to share really is too much. I’ve blocked people who have posted really intimate information about their sex lives because I’m really not interested.
“And of course we all know people who endlessly go on about how utterly amazing their partner is and how in love they are. Why they don’t just tell their partner this to their face instead of telling all their acquaintances is a mystery.”
A man who took part said: “I am so sick and tired of people trying to out do each other on Facebook.
“Some people’s updates just scream, ‘LOOK AT ME!’ It’s like they are trying to convince themselves that their lives have meaning.
“The truth is if their lives were so wonderful they wouldn’t bother bragging about it endlessly. In fact I think the reverse is true – the happiest people are the ones with the quiet and understated feeds.”
A spokesman for shopping site PromotionalCodes.org.uk said: “Most of us use social media these days but it’s amazing how varied that use still is.
“Some of us are more than happy to share every detail about our lives while others prefer to stay relatively silent.
“Many of us use Facebook to connect with all kinds of people – lots of whom are mere acquaintances rather than true friends. Then we forget that and use the updates feed to talk to our closest pals.
“Our study shows that sharing too much can turn some people off as it can quite easily be perceived as bragging.
“If you care about growing your contacts list it’s important to update regularly and honestly but to remember you are talking to lots of people who aren’t necessarily close friends.”
The study by discount shopping site PromotionalCodes.org.uk
Tagged in Facebook Social Media