Huffington Magazine Issue 17 | Page 27

DANNY RUBIN Voices HUFFINGTON 10.07.12 The Perils of Unfriending O NE OF THESE DAYS you swear you’re going to do it. You’ll log into Facebook, head straight for your list of friends and start deleting people. You know, the girl you haven’t talked to since middle school. The random dude you met at a party who you haven’t spoken to in five years. The person you haven’t seen in so long that you forgot how you met in the first place. Recently, one blogger compared deleting people to a crash diet. He even called it a “Facebook cleanse.” Getting your house in order is a great idea—except on social media. The web has made us so interconnected and accessible that to delete people from your online world could harm you personally and professionally. Here’s why: Every person you delete on Facebook is one less networking opportunity down the road. Life happens in funny ways. Out of nowhere, you could suddenly need a person you haven’t heard from in a decade. ILLUSTRATION BY FRANCESCO BONGIORNI Danny Rubin writes the blog News to Live By and can be followed on Twitter @ NewsToLiveBy