Research shows impact of Facebook unfriending
High school friends often first to go
April 22, 2014 -- By David Kelly, University Communications, the University of Colorado ,
Denver
Two studies from the University
of Colorado , Denver
The studies, published earlier this year, show that
the most likely person to be unfriended is a high school acquaintance.
"The most common reason for unfriending someone
from high school is that the person posted polarizing comments often about
religion or politics,” said Christopher Sibona, a doctoral student in the
Computer Science and Information Systems program at the CU Denver Business
School. “The other big reason for unfriending was frequent, uninteresting
posts."
Sibona’s first study examined `context collapse and
unfriending behaviors’ on Facebook and his second looked at `the emotional
response to being unfriended.’
Both studies were based on a survey of 1,077 people
conducted on Twitter.
The first study found that the top five kinds of
people respondents unfriended were:
1.
High School friends
2.
Other
3.
Friend of a friend
4.
Work friends
5.
Common interest friend
“We found that people often unfriend co-workers for their actions in the real world rather than anything they post on Facebook,” Sibona said.
One reason he believes high school friends are top
targets for unfriending is that their political and religious beliefs may not
have been as strong when they were younger. And if those beliefs have grown
more strident over time, it becomes easier to offend others.
“Your high school friends may not know your current
political or religious beliefs and you may be quite vocal about them,” Sibona
said. “And one thing about social media is that online disagreements escalate
much more quickly.”
The second study looked at the emotional impact of
being unfriended. Sibona found a range of emotions connected to unfriending,
from being bothered to being amused.
The most common responses to being unfriended were:
1.
I was surprised
2.
It bothered me
3.
I was amused
4.
I felt sad
“The strongest predictor is how close you were at the
peak of your friendship when the unfriending happened,” said Sibona, who has
studied the real world consequences of Facebook unfriending since 2010. “You
may be more bothered and saddened if your best friend unfriends you.”
The study found four factors that predicted someone’s
emotional response to being unfriended. Two factors predicted that a user
would be negatively affected - if the unfriended person was once a close friend
to the one who unfriended them and how closely the person monitored their own
friend’s list.
Two other factors predicted that a user would be less
negatively affected - if difficulties were discussed between the friends before
the unfriending and if the person unfriended talked about it with others after
the unfriending.
The research showed that unfriending happens more
often to friends who were once close than to those who are acquaintances.
“Despite the preponderance of weak ties throughout
online social networks, these findings help to place unfriending within the
greater context of relationship dissolution,” the study said.
Sibona said that the ‘one size fits all’ method of
ending digital relationships is unique but with real world consequences that
warrant additional research.
“If you have a lot of friends on Facebook, the cost of
maintaining those friendships is pretty low,” he said. “So if you make a
conscious effort to push a button to get rid of someone, that can hurt.”
The two studies were published in the 2014 47th Hawaii
Sibona is currently investigating why people either
stay on or leave Facebook. Those interested in helping him can take his
anonymous survey at: https://businessucdenver.co1.qualtrics.com/SE/?SID=SV_bKJlBiKySkI872t
###
Contact: David.Kelly@ucdenver.edu
Link for this entire article:
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