Can A Southern Gal “Unfriend”?

The newly named word of the year according to the New Oxford American Dictionary is “unfriend.” It beat out words including “netbook” and “hashtag”. As technology evolves we all adopt new words, but the key question for this one is how do we put it into action?

According to one article entitled “ 12 Great Tales of De-Friending” it seems that there can be fall out and hurt feelings if this is not handled well. An agency is insulted by someone leaving and everyone drops him at once or politics come between friends. Since so many of us have a mix of professional and personal contacts in our Facebook or linkedin lists, I suggest we carefully consider an unfriend strategy.

What does that mean? In my mind it means going back to the manners you learned growing up. Consider whose feelings will be hurt, who else might see how you behaved and be affected, and how you will be perceived. We have now opened many aspects of our lives to the scrutiny of others and who we associate with and how we treat them in the social space is now part of our reputation.