How Important is an Un-friending on Facebook?

The past few days seeing French flags online has reminded me of the motto of France, "Liberté, égalité, fraternité."

Fraternity is big with me. My default attitude towards others is "hail fellow, well met" Look it up if you don't know what it means, but for me, everyone is to be treated cordially, as if they were friends unless they prove otherwise.

Loyalty and fraternity are the same thing. It's like ongoing maintenance of friendship ties. I don't know why, but I remain fiercely loyal to old friends, family, schools...if I invest emotion and time into something, I'm there until the bitter end.

So I gotta ask, Is it just me or do I put too much stock in a Facebook connection? Well, more than just an online thing. If someone suddenly isn't a friend on Facebook, how am I supposed to react?

So now I find out by decree of the authority that is ex-radio stunt boy Jimmy Kimmel that November 17 is "National Unfriending Day." I had no idea but the timing could not be more amazingly right on.

Seriously, it has happened: someone I mentored professionally has now un-friended me online and I am just... livid. I thought this person was not only gifted but a stand-up individual. I genuinely liked this person, believed in them, wanted them to succeed.

Some folks are your buds when they think they need you but when they don't, they are gone. Not me. I don't burn bridges. Ultimatums on Facebook that say, "I'm going to unfriend anyone who doesn't post on here why we are friends" are childish.

My other thought is, "what did I do? What did I say?" Did I offend? Was mu Old Spice aftershave a bit too much? Did I post on Facebook too often? There are adjustments to minimize me if that's the case.

I recently reconnected with another person who did the exact same thing. I ended up writing a reference for this individual. That's what I do, I don't hold grudges.

You can never have too many friends, At least, that's what I think.