Facebook Fallout: The Emotional Response to Being Unfriended on Facebook

Social networking sites allow users to form, maintain and dissolve relationships on the network. This investigation examines the factors that predict the emotional response a Facebook user may experience when they are unfriended. Facebook users who valued the peak of the relationship more highly were more negatively affected by the unfriending. Facebook users who displayed high levels of network vigilance were more negatively affected when unfriended. Users who discussed the unfriending with others after the relationship dissolved were less negatively affected by the dissolution. Facebook users who discussed the difficulty in the relationship prior to the friendship dissolution were less negatively affected by the dissolution. Common emotional responses to being unfriended include surprise, bothered, amusement and sadness, in this order by level of agreement.