I unfriended a bunch of fb people. Not because I don't like them, but because I finally concluded I didn't actually know them. (I admit I'm not always the fastest processor in the computer lab.) After about a year of reading posts I realized that these weren't people that I knew anything about. Never had really known them. Reading their posts wasn't actually going to make us better friends, or even friends at all.
I originally got on fb because I thought it would help me to keep up with the local music scene, and maybe present some marketing opportunities. There's some benefit to the former, but as for marketing, well, if you're only playing a few times a year marketing isn't really a big issue. Besides, I suspect most of my "friends" - and I only had a handful - had unsubscribed from my very infrequent, sporadic posts anyway. Turns out I don't really like to share, and I’m not interested in building a social media network. But I gave it a shot.
Twitter has been a bit of an eye opener. Seems more purposeful: marketing a show, or book, or album, or tour, or column - and in between adverts sometimes writing a funny little note. Kind of entertaining and maybe even a bit more honest than fb. Whereas, looking at an instagram and comments on fb of someone I don't really remember from college, on vacation with her family, none of whom I know or have met, simply isn't that interesting. Not really surprising, when you think about it. More like rummaging through a stranger's box of photos: intriguing for a little bit but not something to go back to on a regular basis. So I think I’ll stick to sitting with friends over a glass of wine, a little food and maybe some music we all like playing in the background.