Capping - turning unpopularity into a game!

Update: First elimination has happened. I have calculated six more reasonably easy eliminations to come. Then it would get harder.

When I first joined Facebook my 'friends' list increased exponentially in those first few weeks. Then I reached 50, 60, 70. It slowed down then - I'd 'friended' the people I liked from high-school, a few uni and t-coll friends, couple of people from work, flatmates, netball friends..... I stagnated around 80 and limped towards 100. Rather than feel friend-envy when I look at people like Morgan and Fish, with their hundreds and hundreds of friends, I have decided to market myself as 'exclusive'.

Yeah.... I'm not unpopular..... I'm just picky......

I have decided to put a cap on my Facebook friends.

I am going to remain steady at 80 friends. It's a modest total, but I seem to keep culling back towards it, so maybe it's my optimum number of contacts.

Any time I get a new 'friend' request, I will have to delete someone who has been idle.

It's like that theory on keeping your house clutter free (every time you buy something new, you have to get rid of something else).

I mainly like it because I will get to enact my own little game of Survivor. KATE HAS SPOKEN! And for the most part, the eliminated competitors will be none the wiser.

I have already had my first round of eliminations, to get from about 85 down to 80. It was mainly people I'd met once at a party, or people I wasn't even really friends with at high school, and haven't seen since. People who I suspect are using me to bulk up their own numbers. People who have never commented on anything of mine, or left a message or chatted to me. People whose inane quiz results annoy me. People who probably haven't noticed they're not my 'friends' anymore anyhow. People whose status updates, notes, photos, events and fan-groups don't interest me.

It was a good trade. The new 'friend' has already commented on my stuff several times. It makes me feel popular and interesting. While I have only met the guy twice, he's thus-far earning his place on my 'friends' list. I may even invite him to my next 'event' or maybe tag him in a meme-thingie I do. He does take a lot of quizzes, though, so his active Facebooking has a negative trade-off.

If you read my blog, you are probably not on the chopping block because you are in my sphere of actual contact (maybe). For now.




Now I just have to sit back and wait a few months til my next new friend comes along.........


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And I just followed a link from My Little Teapot which is hilarity and genius using an old-school book about cats and a manic little girl. Nothing more.