At first I read this post and thought it was a pretty good idea. Upon further consideration, I reconsidered this comment: It was a surprisingly hard thing to d

At first I read this post and thought it was a pretty good idea. Upon further consideration, I reconsidered this comment: It was a surprisingly hard thing to do, but now I’m left with 35 people that I actually know: people I’d actually talk to in the real world. Personally, if my Facebook was: Family: over 35 - my mom, stepdad, stepmom, 3 siblings, about 10 aunts and uncles, 3 grandparents, about 15 cousins, and 2 in-laws Might-as-well-be-family[1]: about 15 more Friends I enjoy hanging out with... weekly: probably 10 more, monthly: maybe 20 more, a few times a year: at least 40 more People I rarely see but chat with occasionally when I see them on Facebook: another 30? That means that my culled Facebook list would still have at least 150 people. Once you have that many friends, what's a few more even if you don't know them that well? I'm not in any way trying to brag about how many friends I have. In my experience this is pretty much standard for people in the 18-28 age range (I'm 26). It seems to me that the author's "lucky 35" being that small is the exception, and for most people such an exercise would be mostly pointless. For me, Facebook isn't only for "people I'd actually talk to in the real world," anyways. It's also interesting to check out the profiles of people you knew several years ago but never talk to anymore, just to see what they're up to these days and maybe post "Hey, longtime no see! Glad to see you're doing well :)" messages on their walls. And when it comes down to it Facebook is all about being social. Part of that is photo-sharing: if you want to tag -- or be tagged by -- someone you see occasionally (we all party sometimes, right?), you have to be friends with them. Ditto if you want to invite them to your next big party, or suggest they check out a small band that you enjoy. And it's pretty awesome when you can make your status "driving out to <interesting place 6 hours away> this weekend, who's with me?" or "looking for a ride to <hometown 2+ hours from my college town> Friday" and be reasonably likely to get a reply. I agree with the idea of having a special network for your closest friends and family. I just think that if you're using Facebook for that, you're vastly under-utilizing its potential. [1] My closest friends, past roommates that I still care a lot about, my ex-but-longtime-girlfriend's family, extended-extended family, etc.