Maybe "people you don't know" is a little strong. But you wrote, Back when Facebook was new . . . the friends that you had were people that you actually want

Maybe "people you don't know" is a little strong. But you wrote, Back when Facebook was new . . . the friends that you had were people that you actually wanted to keep in touch with. That's still the case with me -- I only make friends with people I want to keep in touch with. The friends you have may have changed in character . . . but I find that hard to parse as Facebook's fault. It seems to me that regular prunings and a less promiscuous friending policy would solve your problem.