Facebook is the go-to site for social media. Most everyone uses it, and it's a great way to keep up with friends and family. But there are some people who may request to be your friend - who you don't want cluttering up your feed or seeing your information. Before you click that "Confirm" button when receiving your next friend request, be sure it's not one of these people. And if it's too late, go ahead and find that "hide" or "defriend" button quickly. First of all, your work colleagues may not be the smartest people to be friends with on Facebook, unless you work in a very relaxed setting. In particular, your boss may not be the friendliest friend you can make on Facebook. Do you really want him or her knowing what you did last weekend, let alone seeing photographic evidence of it? Consider your professional relationships before adding friends. Likewise, you may not want to be friends with your healthcare provider, like your doctor, dentist or even nurse. In such an informal setting, it's easy for them to let details slip that you may not want to make public, like that appointment you have next week for that weird growth. The next friend you may not want to accept is someone who you haven't talked to in a really long time and weren't that good of friends with when you did talk, aka The Faded Friend.
It's a risk to take on this person because he or she likely isn't the same person you remember, and if you weren't great friends in the first place, then why would you be now? The Complainer is a friend who you've already made the mistake of friending - he or she is the one who always worries or whines about something going wrong. From flat tires to all-out failure, if something bad happens, you're sure to hear about it - a lot. This friend grouches about everything, and it's a serious downer that pops up in your feed frequently - attention is what the person wants, and when he or she doesn't get it, you'll notice an uptick in updates. Best to nip this one in the bud. Finally, the Application Junkie is another friend to play the latest time-waster or take the latest quiz du jour. The liability of accepting these invitations is that many Facebook apps collect personal information in order to allow you to play. If all this person wants from you is for you to water their Farmville crops, then you're better off without him or her. But if you just can't bear defriending these or the other annoying Facebook friends you have, then there's always the "hide" option.
