Yup, lose a friend gain a burger, more clogged arteries, greasy face, yuck. But, them’s the stakes and Burger King lovers were taking it until they were shut down by FaceBook after 233,906 friendships werr destroyed. ALL for a burger.

My guess is that number would have continued to rise eventually reaching a million or more. I mean come on. Who wouldn’t ditch a friend for a Whopper? Especially if it gave a person an excuse to ditch a friend without really having to explain themselves. But I guess choosing a burger over a friend kind of says it all.

Burger King’s pitch actually made me review how I would feel or how a friend would feel  if I ditched them without an explanation.  I, thus far have  deleted only a few friends from my page but I can tell you I did regret it.  My reasons for de-friending were less personal, less business based and more gossip based. Not good for the relationship building let me tell you. But that’s another story.

Anyway, I started to look through my friends list and was surprised to see that some of the people that I considered friends had un-friended me.  One of them, was an old business acquaintance who I thought was not a great friend but someone I could say hello to if I saw them in a shopping center. I was a bit taken aback but after realizing that I hadn’t been part of this person’s particular organization for several years, I figured that must have been the reason I was un-friended. True, I couldn’t afford the membership fees anymore due to a loss in income but I never thought our “friendship” was conitngent upon my staying in the organization. Perhaps I was wrong.

Then the other, a former co-worker had un-friended me as well. Well, after thinking about that for a few seconds, I knew exactly why I’d been un-friended.  The funny thing is I wasn’t upset that I’d been unfriended just a bit taken aback, professionally.

Although I didn’t consider them close friends, I did consider them business people. Professionals that I could go to or recommend to others if the need was there. You see, I myself try not to un-friend anyone because I treat each of them as business people.  Everyone has something to contribute so I’d hate to un-friend someone just because  they could no longer afford to be part of an organization or because another close friend of mine didn’t like that person. To me, that would be childish and selfish on my part. Unless I was a true friend, meaning we sat down together on a regular basis to talk life, I wouldn’t take somebody elses’ word for a person’s character or actions. I don’t know them. I don’t talk to them on a regular basis to know anything about them other than the fact that for right now, this person is a “friend” unless he or she does something directly to me to make think otherwise.

Now, you’re wondering or know by now what I’m getting at.  Because these two peeople un-friended me, I have no desire to recommend these people to other friends or business associates that I know.  Now, anytime that I have a great idea or need to buy a service, I can’t go to these people anymore, I have to look elsewhere.

I also have to think about the awkward social moments that will undoubtedly arise when we run into each other.  When I can afford to join the organization again, that person will either have to say hello or ignore me for the rest of the year  and with the other, since we run in the same circles, I’ll have to wonder again should I say hello or no? 

My point is think before you hit the un-friend button. What is the likelihood of running into that person? Does that person have something you may eventually need? Or, if you’re like me, you say to yourself, that person could be famous one day and I’d love to interview them for my magazine, radio show, news segment, ect. Can you, as a business professional, afford to lose a contact in today’s industry?

Now granted not all of your friends on Facebook have lots of friends, hell, I don’t have that many on Facebook but I do have followers and acquaintances on several other sites that I send reports out to on a daily basis.  Just like those friends you may be thinking about un-friending, you have to think about ALL of the potential friends, fans, followers, acquaintances that you WILL lose by hitting that un-friend button.

If you’ve already “friended” someone, think twice about un-friending. I know I have. I’ve un-friended a few and later on have thought “Crap!” when their name cropped up in a conversation as a potential sponsor or business associate. It’s completely awkward and hard to rectify. And with the rise of FaceBook and Twiiter as outlets for advertising, building relationships and making money, you’re better off keeping that way out there friend rather than losing him and all of his friends.

Till another day, Happy Friending

Jasmine