They’re supposed to. However, one of the ways this could happen is if it’s a new FB or if the person deactivated their facebook and reactivated it.
I’m not on Facebook precisely because all this stuff freaks me out.
I wouldn’t be able to take the political rants. But, if I downgraded a friend stealthily so that their posts didn’t appear in my feed, I’d be afraid that they’d have some terrible news – death of a parent, say – and I’d appear terribly insensitive because I wouldn’t express sympathy (because I didn’t see the news due to my downgrading of them). I can think of 10 variations on that scenario off the top of my head! No thanks; would rather not be on it at all.
@abasket, you find out when you innocently check someone’s page, because you haven’t seen anything from them in a while, and you get the old “add friend” . It’s a little startling the first time you see it. You are right, it’s Facebook. I would also suggest that if your life is going really great, or if you portray it as such on Facebook, there are some people who just don’t want to see that.
Nottelling- that actually is explainable. You don’t see everyone’s posts, even if you keep setting it to “most recent.” It’s easy to miss things.
I was unfriended by my brother’s ex and her sister after some family drama. OK by me. Oddly they did not defriend my sister, but whatever. I have unfollowed several people due to constant political rants. In most cases we have enough mutual friends that if they posted something really big I would see other friends comments and know about it.
The friend thing is odd, IMHO. I have had a lot of friend request from HS classmates- some of whom I really never knew very well. A few people I thought were my friends back then never responded to my friend requests. Not losing sleep over it, but it is strange.
I find out my drama queen SIL has unfriended me, again, when I get a friend request from her. 
The first HS reunion I attended was our 30th. I was quite surprised that the “popular people” actually wanted to talk to me, ha! Then they friended me on FB! It amused me that one person’s avatar was of herself as a HS cheerleader. Then she unfriended me. Silly for it to sting 31 years after graduating!
I sometimes get friend requests from people who are already friends. Those are spam copies of their page. So be careful.
I also have put people on restricted. That way they think they are still friends (and it doesnt hurt their feelings) but the no longer see my posts.
Our recent HS reunion was enriched BECAUSE of fb. After our last one 10 years ago, a classmate started a fb page and many of us reconnected. After talking to each other on-line for several years we felt we knew each other when we got together. My trick for keeping people friends is to hide and block sites that they post that I find offensive. This was especially helpful in the last election. I really dislike the newest fb posting scheme where they show what friends like. I have been hiding as many of those posts that I catch in the hopes that some fb algorithm will show that I find that annoying. And I agree with others that unfriending someone is much harder than friending them.
I have hidden a lot of people from my newsfeed , mostly because of political posts and rants. I have one friend that just doesn’t know when to quit . She treats FB like it is her own personal political blog. She gets called out a lot , unfriended a lot…
Politics seems to be a common subject that gets people angry. A lot of insults are being hurled and I am finding it rather upsetting to see. I admit I am a fan of FB and check it often…but enjoying it less and less.
I wish people would understand how unlikely it is that they will turn people around with their shaming and insulting political posts
Most of my coworkers are people I don’t want to be friends with on facebook - but I’d never hurt their feelings and I work with them everyday, so I have them as “acquaintances” or restrict what posts they can see. Quite a few of them use facebook to sell 31 bags or essential oils…not things I am going to buy. If the only time I hear from them is to sell something, I eventually unfriend them.
It’s funny but I have a few CC Facebook friends - and I trust them more than some of my IRL acquaintances!
I am not FB friends with anyone I work with even those I am friends with IRL.
Definitely true that unless you are on FB 24 hours a day, you are going to miss things that people post. If FB is the only way someone is counting on sharing what’s going on in their life - good or bad - then that’s a problem!
FB should not be a job or with a lot of expectations besides what you normally apply to your daily “friend” life. Respect, time that you are able to give, support when you can give it. When it becomes a job, it’s time to reevaluate.
IMO, it’s an activity you choose to participate in - like anything else - it’s your game to play as you like it.
I confess that I ignore friend requests all the time. Nobody has ever asked me about it, but if they do, I’ll probably say that I still have trouble working that darn Internet thing. I get requests from people who are really just acquaintances, and I just don’t want to have hundreds of Facebook friends.
What I don’t want is a LinkedIn account.
ive been unfriend twice. one was a gal who i briefly knew but we shared kids/teachers/schools. They moved away; and she must have unfriended alot of the that crowd. I dont blame her! the other was a jr. high acquaintance; i had to comment on her really off post about a school shooting blaming the administration. we are not friends IRL nor on facebook.
but, it is an odd feeling to find out you’ve been unfriended. I agree with someone above who said they were glad this wasnt around when they were growing up.
I’ve unfriended and blocked one distant relative, and it was a soul lifting decision not to see her posts anymore.
I’ve proactively blocked two people who live in my area. I don’t trust them in real life, and dont want them to have even the slightest access to me, or my Facebook account. They simply don’t show up at all on threads in those groups.
I generally don’t unfriend the few people who annoy me politically because It is interesting to see a point of view that I might otherwise not believe was actually possible for anyone to believe. It keeps me better informed about a side of politics I wouldn’t normally see.
The next 18 months are going to get pretty ugly on social media.
I think FB should change the word/action “unfriend” - such a negative! Let’s think of a new word/phrase for it.
“Disengage”
“Hiatus”
“Time’s Up!!” :0
This is exactly our experience. A bunch of us (now close to 100 maybe) of our high school class started connecting on facebook about 8 years ago (our 40th reunion was in 2010) and it has just been wonderful. Most of us are really enjoying getting to know each other as adults- even if we barely spoke in high school. Some of us go back to 1st grade, and it’s been fun to share the memories. We have really bonded in a way I never would have expected. There are a few nutcases, and a few I’ve had to hide, but on the whole it has just been a real gift.
My college roommate unfriended me twice - and she’s the one who sent me the friend request both times. Weird. We are very different politically, but still: did she think I’d changed after she unfriended me the first time?
What I want to know is why my high school boyfriend - my first “true love” - never accepted my friend request!
My first boyfriend, who asked me to marry him and then dumped me the next year, kept showing up as a suggested friend since he stays in touch with my classmates. I finally figured out I could click on “X” next to his photo to get rid of his face!