Ron Samuelson, 36, is still smarting after being unfriended a month ago. The chief executive of jewelry retailer Samuelson’s Diamonds Inc. in Baltimore, Md., tried to view the profile of one of his Facebook friends — only to find his access was limited because they weren’t friends anymore.
Insulted, Mr. Samuelson wondered if his supposed friend, also a jeweler, feared his profile would give away competitive information, or if he had done it by accident.
It wasn’t long before the missing friend resurfaced, this time requesting to join a private Facebook group Mr. Samuelson had created for jewelers to network with each other. Still hurt, Mr. Samuelson says he hesitated before approving his request, but ultimately “chose to take the high road.” He says he would never get in the habit of unfriending people himself. “Diplomatically, it’s probably not the right thing to do,” says Mr. Samuelson, who has 466 friends on Facebook.
Mr. Samuelson declined to name the fellow jeweler. “I don’t want to burn any bridges,” he says. “He may be a future business contact.”
The reporter had run across one of Ron’s blog posts awhile back, “Unfriended on Facebook: Compliment or Diss?” Guess it does pay to just… blog. Who knew!
