[hvert]

What is the motivation for posting things like 'Time to clean up my friend list!' on FB??? Why not just do it without announcing it??? I don't get it.

Why do you have a problem with that?
People have a right to post whatever they want

[BreakForTheLight]

So that people can reply "yay I'm still here" and they feel like they matter?

[healingme4me]

I don't know, hvert. I know a couple of people like that on fb, too.

I never wind up being on the delete list :eyesroll: but yes...don't just threaten it ...do it!! Or if it's regarding a specific person just delete them. Enough already.

[carcrashonrepeat]

There are a couple of reasons but the main one I've noticed is that you might have someone (or a few people) on your list that has a FB account used for spamming, catfishing, or trolling. You announce that you're cleaning your friend list to make sure you dont delete friends who are 1) legit people and 2) actually want to keep in touch. You might also have friends with more than one FB account, so you want to make sure you don't delete one from your list because it's inactive.

[seesaw]

I had a friend announce this once and she stated her intent of why she was culling, because she does so much advocacy work and she has a lot of people her troll her on FB. So she was letting us know why she was culling and if we got unfriended and felt we still wanted to be friends to PM her. It was sort of like a "if I accidentally remove you while I'm trimming the fat..." post.

I don't get the point of announcing it either. If I cull my FB page, I might make a post about removing toxic people from your life and remind people that it's okay to not be friends with everyone on Facebook. But not say that I'm unfriending people.

I think people want attention.

[Shazerac]

I hate Facebook...

[mote.of.soul]

I know. You're right. It's about as interesting or important as posting 'okay, I'm going to the toilet now everybody. Please share this post. Like and subscribe!" Haha.

[IrisBloom]

I suppose it's a passive/aggressive way to let the aholes know you are deleting them. Also, some people think they're more important then they really are.

I think it really depends on the context. What are you leaving out about this? Surely the post(s) go into the reasons why.

Possible reasons? The person has too many friends and is having a hard time keeping track of them. Perhaps the person is having issues with harassment, spamming, or other negative attacks. Perhaps the person is taking a stance against things like politics and differences of opinion. Perhaps something has changed in their life (employment?) necessitating taking more control of their social media. Perhaps the person has made a decision to take more personal accountability and responsibility for their social media presence..... I could continue.

Originally Posted by hvert

What is the motivation for posting things like 'Time to clean up my friend list!' on FB??? Why not just do it without announcing it??? I don't get it.

I think it's weird too. It's passive aggressive and controlling seeming.

[s4ndm4n2006]

no idea it could just be a comment. for some people they say what is on their mind all the time without really thinking about the impact. Or it could be any of the above answers including passive aggressiveness but I'm not so sure why it sounds like you feel offended by it?

[hvert]

One of my friends posts this really frequently, I suspect when she is mad at someone in particular. Maybe it's a comment made in anger. Everyone has seen the posts so often, no one comments on them anymore.

I don't know why it annoys me, that's a good question too! In the past, I reached out to people posting that stuff, but now those kinds of posts seem manipulative to me.

[s4ndm4n2006]

Originally Posted by hvert

One of my friends posts this really frequently, I suspect when she is mad at someone in particular. Maybe it's a comment made in anger. Everyone has seen the posts so often, no one comments on them anymore.

I don't know why it annoys me, that's a good question too! In the past, I reached out to people posting that stuff, but now those kinds of posts seem manipulative to me.

well to be honest now I can see why it does annoy you, within the context of what you just added here. Now that I know this part I would guess also that it is in retaliation more than likely or being annoyed at someone. Thanks for elaborating on it.

I've seen people like this too and typically if its a repeat behavior (back when I paid attention to fb at all) I would have unfollowed them XD

[Loose Screw x 2]

Well, I did this recently because someone in my family had been causing problems by policing my Facebook account and gossiping and spreading rumors about stuff that I had posted in the past and even some stuff that I didn't post.
The most recent offense caused a heated argument under my own roof and the person who started it wasn't even a Facebook friend any longer and my posts on that account were for friends eyes only so, then, how would she be able to see anything that I posted unless she were being fed info from another trouble maker.
On top of all of this most of my family has disowned me because I have disowned God and hardly anyone was acknowledging me on Facebook anyway under that account so, why not make a message letting people know that you are going to make changes to your account because of a troublesome person or persons and not knowing who you can trust and anyone who wishes to stay simply pm you or reply or react to a post that you made to show that they are still your friends?
I don't get why it is a problem for someone reading it. It's basically like giving a "heads up!" if you are truly my friend then, speak up so, I don't accidentally delete you, ok?
If they said nothing and deleted you then, wouldn't you wonder why and feel a bit upset that no explanation was given?

[~Christina]

I have needed/ wanted to remove people off my Facebook for a variety of reasons , but I just do it.

No need to be all passive aggressive and just plain acting like a baby.

Many people make no sense to me, at all.

I don't understand why people care. It's a Facebook status. People can post whatever they want. If you really want to know why they do it, ask them. Everything else is just speculation. If it really bothers you unfollow or unfriend them. They shouldn't have to change their posting to accommodate your opinions.

[healingme4me]

I know that in my case, and hvert actually shared a similar experience, is that at first there was a reaction of concern, but then the status appeared again at a later point and then...again.

And for me it hasn't been just 1 person but a couple individuals...over time.

I think the OP asks, why?

Not put up or....

[graystreet]

Originally Posted by Shazerac

I hate Facebook...

GOD, so do I. I tried to delete it, and then found out that most of my passwords to things I use pretty regularly (of course, now I can't think of what at the moment) are connected to it. And I'm too lazy right now to go through and switch them over to my gmail.

*sigh*

To the OP, that also drives me nuts. I cull my friends list all the time. And then I inevitably get one person from high school whom I haven't spoken to in twenty years (always a guy) who messages me and is like, "Why did you delete me?" Um, because you're on my list for the past five years and have never interacted with me and I don't know you? Creeper.

I also don't like the, "I'm deleting my FB" announcements. Except I've deactivated mine intermittently, and have had people from work then ask me why I defriended them. *side eye* Look, I am middle aged at this point. If I don't want to be on social media with the youths, give me a ****ing break.