It started as a phishing scam or other malware, at least for me, when I was offered an app to let me see who had unfriended me on Facebook. The solicitations looked scammy, and I ignored them. I found out the other day that there IS a Facebook Unfriend Finder app. The app’s page has about 10,500 Likes, and from my testing, the app does what it says – lets you know when someone unfriends you (it also advises you when one of your friends closes his/her FB account). Could this little app change the way we use Facebook?
Enter the therapist
How does it make you feel when someone unfriends you on Facebook? If it’s someone you hardly know or don’t know, your response is probably meh. But what if it’s a close business associate, or long time real life friend? What feelings, what pain, what anger wells up at the thought of someone you love, or someone you have been quietly stalking on Facebook, suddenly turning off that friendship?
We probably all have a few weirdos, trolls and stalkers on our friends list. I know that from now on I will carefully consider the implications of the Unfriend Finder app before making the decision to unfriend. I will assume that everyone is using the app. I may come face to face with them be confronted. At a meeting the other day I sat across the table from someone who had unfriended me that morning. Our relationship had changed. It impacted the meeting, and he probably never realized it. We are seeing more and more stories of violence and murder over Facebook relationships. Facebook relationships are being cited in criminal and civil (i.e. divorce) cases.
Do you use the app? If you didn’t know it was there, will you look it up and installed? How will you handle being unfriended? Your comments are welcomed!
About Joe Spake
Joe Spake is a Memphis-based Consultant, Real Estate Broker, and Social Media Networker. He blogs at Joe Spake’s Weblog and Memphis Real Estate Buzz and is a regular contributor at Social Web Learning.
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