There are many reasons to "unfriend" someone on Facebook. Sometimes you want to remove someone from your friends list in the first rage to show them how upset you are. Other reasons are aggressive or offensive posts that you don't want to deal with. However, since "unfriending" in the virtual, social network is a direct provocation, you should ask yourself some questions beforehand.

By asking these questions, you can find out for yourself if you are perhaps just overreacting and the friendship in real life could be permanently damaged as a result. Unfriending is a step that should be considered carefully to know if the reason for being angry with this person is worth losing a friend permanently.

If you too are struggling with the question of whether to remove a person from your Facebook list, consider these questions first:

Do I know this person personally or only through the internet? With people you don't know in real life, the decision to "unfriend" is often easier. However, terminating the Facebook friendship most likely means the end of the acquaintance forever.

2) How important is this person to my life? Is it an old schoolmate you haven't seen for years or a current work colleague? You can put the person into a personal category on a scale of 1 to 5 with the following evaluation criteria: Have we ever spoken? Have we ever met in private? Have we ever been together? If the person scores low on your scale, "unfriending" will certainly not do much damage. If the score is high, however, you should consider this step.

3. are we still friends in real life? If we haven't exchanged a personal word for years, it's obviously not a real friend but just an acquaintance.

What is the person's relationship with my family? If the person is still in regular contact with the family, you should not unfriend them, as this will inevitably lead to complications.

5. how many Facebook friends does the person have? If there are more than 1000 friends on the Facebook list, they can't possibly all be relevant. In that case, you are surely just one among many and your friendship will not be greatly missed. However, if the person has only a handful of friends, they are obviously handpicked and every single one of them is important. Such a person can be very hurt by being "unfriended".

What do we have in common? If you still have common interests that connect you, then maybe this person's posts can enrich your life after all.

What is the reason for the "unfriending"? If you are only angry at the moment, the anger may pass. Sleep on it again. If the reason is deeper and the person has insulted or harassed you on your Facebook wall, it might make sense not to expose yourself to such things anymore.

Have we talked about the problem? Does the person know that you are considering "unfriending" and are angry? If not, you should at least give them the opportunity to speak up and sort things out.