When a defriending occurs, it is visible to others because of the public articulation of connections (e.g., friend lists).
Far more often, participants experienced digital dissolution, defriending, perhaps serving as a proxy for off-line dissolution.
But defriending was not always initiated by the peer to the participant.
But far more often, participants were on the receiving end of a defriending. M12 said that the majority of his university classmates defriended him, and for M10 this was especially the case during a presidential election campaign where political discussion and concerns were heightened.
"Friend" has not only lost its precious meaning but has also been turned into a verb, "friending" replacing good old "befriending" while "
defriending" surely promotes a callous approach to relationships of any sort.
"They're far more used to
defriending friends online rather than befriending them in reality.
If you don't want to inflame her by
defriending her, block her posts so at least you can't be annoyed by what she writes.
Hewlett also suggests steering clear of your computer as not only will you have to contend with social media's abrupt
defriending and unfollowing, you may be receiving an email from WotWentWrong.com, a site allowing dumpees to ask their dumpers for answers via a third party.
And not only is
defriending up from 2009 by 19 percent, but women and young adults are the ones hitting the "unfriend" button the most.
This week head teacher Dr Helen Wright warned we are at risk of creating a generation of 'mean girls' bitching and '
defriending' on a whim.