Losing Facebook Friends? New App Exposes Who's Ditching You
It’s happened to all of us at one time or another: You’re browsing Facebook, checking out the latest political diatribe by that guy you went to high school with, when suddenly you notice that small number next to your Friends list has fallen by exactly one.
It can only mean — oh, no! — you’ve been unfriended.
OK, don’t panic. It’s not like your worth as a human being is defined by the number of social media followers you have, right? RIGHT?!
But if you really must know what’s going on — which of your so-called friends just digitally dumped you — you now have a way to find out: the aptly named new app Who Deleted Me.
Facebookery
Developed by the Media Dudes, Who Deleted Me is available as an app for iOS and Android or as a browser-extension for the Chrome, Firefox, or Opera browsers.
After you download and install it, Who Deleted Me automatically catalogues your current list of Facebook friends. From then on, whenever you log in to Who Deleted Me, the app will compare that original list with your existing friends roster to determine if any changes have been made.
If you’ve lost friends, Who Deleted Me will provide you with the number of people who’ve abandoned you. Click on that number or the Let’s Go See Who link, and you’ll be able to see exactly which Benedict Arnolds have stabbed you in the digital back.
If you’re feeling especially spiteful, you can even share the name(s) of the person or people who deleted you with your remaining social network.
There’s just one problem with the app: It only starts tracking who’s deleted you from the day you start using it. That means you can’t see who deleted you last year or last week — which is really what I was hoping to find out.
Friends and frenemies
Who Deleted Me isn’t just about making you feel paranoid about who doesn’t like you anymore (if they really ever did). It’s also about inflating your ego by letting you know when someone new friends you. That second bit of functionality isn’t exactly novel — Facebook already does that — but it’s still nice to have the extra validation.
You can also see which of your friends has deactivated his or her Facebook account and browse a list of your current friends.
In truth, Who Deleted Me isn’t a must-have app. Chances are that if someone you really care about has unfriended you on Facebook, you’ll know about it long before this app tells you.
But if you’re the kind of person who needs to know how everyone you’ve ever interacted with in the smallest capacity feels about you, Who Deleted Me is worth checking out. You know, that or a good therapist.
Email Daniel at dhowley@yahoo-inc.com; follow him on Twitter at @DanielHowley or on Google+.
