When to Accept or Decline a Friend Request on Facebook

It is quite easy to accept or refuse a friend's request. Sometimes it is not the friend who is making the request. Often, they are automatically sent.

Facebook has given some guidelines to help most people make their decision. I have added my personal tips.

Become Suspicious

I do not send a friend request unless I have discussed it with that friend. I do not arbitrarily send a request to someone I do not know or care to know. I wish others would extend that same courtesy to me. I get several requests every day from someone I do not know. So, when do I accept or decline the request?

I am suspicious because the request might not be from the person that has his name on it. Fake friend requests are common. However, there are ways to tell if they are real or fake.

Why You Might Receive a Fake Friend Request

There might be a number of reasons you receive a fake friend request.

Scammers: Scammers send friend requests to get personal information and to contact your friends.

Malicious Linkers: You may receive friend requests from people who post malicious links to malware. It ends up in your newsfeed if you accept the request.

Catfishers: The person you think is sending the request may not be the person you think it is. Catfishers get their victims by sending out random requests to a large group of people.

From an Ex: If a relationship ends badly, your ex could design a fake profile and send you a friend request just to keep tabs on you. An ex will know exactly what you are doing without you knowing that the ex is stalking you.

From Current Relationships: Your spouse or significant other might test your fidelity by having a false profile. What you post could be held against you later.

Private Investigators: Private investigators can use false profile friend requests to learn damaging information about you to be used against you in legal matters.

Automatic Requests From Facebook: Facebook automatically sends friend requests to those who are new on Facebook, so they will have friends. Facebook sends you friend requests based on your mutual friends, your activity, and what you might have in common.

How to Spot a Fake Friend Request

In just nine months, Facebook removed more than 5.4 billion fake accounts. That was up from 3.8 billion for all the previous year. So, you see how fast fake accounts are appearing. Believe it or not, you have probably received one or more of those fake friend requests.

There are several things you could do to determine if a Facebook friend request is fake or real before clicking "Accept" or "Decline."

Avatar. Be suspicious if a person wants to be friends with you but doesn't want to show their own face. If the person is too lazy to post a real photo, then be suspicious and click "Decline."

Mutual Friends. When you receive a friend request, there will be a list of mutual friends. If there are no mutual friends, be leery of accepting that person you do not know.

Already a Friend. Very often, you will receive a fake friend request from someone who is already your friend. That's easy to determine. Simply type in the person's name in the search box. It will show if you are already a friend. Therefore, the second request is fake.

Examine the Person's Name. Pay attention to the person's name. It might be a common name or a celebrity's name.

No Other Friends. If that person has no other friends or no mutual friends, you should wonder why you are so special that you are their first friend or among the first few.

Nothing in Common. It might be wise to decline a request if you don't know the person, and you have nothing in common, such as schools attended, living in the same hometown, or working on the same job, etc. Go to the profile to see if anything stands out.

Obscene Posts. Don't accept a friend's request if they have nudity, obscene posts, or foul language on their page.

Decline a Friend Request Without Feeling Guilty

Know that you are not obligated to accept a friend request. There should be no guilty feelings for declining it, whether you know the sender of the request or not. If you receive a friend request from people you don't want as a friend on Facebook, select "Delete Request." That will remove the request from your list.

You can decline a request without the person being notified that his request was declined. However, that doesn't keep the person from sending you another one in the future. If you take no action on the request, it will remain pending, and the person won't be able to send you another request.

When to Remove a Friend

Sometimes you will know immediately if the friend request you just accepted is someone you want to be friends with. Many times, I have accepted requests, and they send numerous messages to chat. When I refuse to chat, they write mean things to me. Therefore, I remove them immediately.

I once accepted a friend request, and the person started sending me "pillow talk" messages. I removed him from my list because I am not his "honey, sweetheart, or boo."

I usually warn people to stop sending me unwanted videos. If they continue to send me videos, I will remove the person from my list of friends.

Summary

Hopefully, the above tips will help you decide whether to accept or decline a friend request, as well as when to remove a friend.