Facebook friends – how do you feel about them?

As a 34-year-old mom of two, I rely heavily on Facebook to keep me in touch with my friends and family and share photos of my kids. Even though many of my close friends and family live in the area, I still use Facebook to keep me posted on their day-to-day lives because, let’s be honest, the telephone and email is becoming obsolete!

I have an average number of Friends (260ish) – but of course only really keep in regular contact with 40-50 of them. It’s funny because I always enjoy reading other people’s status updates, but rarely update my own because I always take the practical route and ask myself “does anyone really care about this”? Yes, I’ll randomly post a photo of my kids with a quirky caption, but just can’t get into the daily routine of updating my status with mindless things. But then again – I’m so happy that other people do because I find it very amusing! Of course, I’d be lying if I said I don’t get somewhat irked by people who “over post.” We all have those friends who use Facebook to share their political viewpoints or only forward along quizzes or event invites. I feel there’s a fine balance there!

The Eversave survey

On that note, I was extremely amused by a recent Huffington Post article, talking about women and their Facebook Friends. According to the article, a survey of over 400 women by Eversave, a daily deals company, uncovered underlying currents of resentment and irritation running through Facebook friendships.

• Eighty-five percent of the women in the survey said they had been annoyed by friends online.
• The top three behaviors irking others? Complaining all the time (63 percent said this annoyed them), sharing “unsolicited” political views (42 percent), and bragging about “perfect” lives (32 percent).
• Eversave also noted, however, “Despite the occasional annoyances, women appreciate Facebook for allowing them to see friends’ photos and videos (91 percent) and helping them search for long lost friends (76 percent).”

Eversave created fun and quirky “stereotypes” for Facebook friends:

• The documentarian (those who update their status about every little thing they do)
• The proud mama (a documentarian, but just in terms of their child)
• The incessant liker (self-explanatory)
• The drama queen (friends who make a fuss of everything)
• The poser (friends who make it seem like they have perfect lives–and tell you by Facebook)
• The slactivist (do-gooders who seem only to spread the word through event invitations and wall posts)

So, what kind of Facebook friend are you?

Amy Turner is VP of Client Strategy for Mom Central Consulting, helping brands connect with Moms through cutting-edge social media campaigns. She is also a wife, proud mom of two and devoted owner of a Belgian Malinois. Connect with Amy at Amy@momcentral.com and follow her @amyjo917.

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