*66*..FaceBook Fun by Kartini Knox, BB (Published Sat 25 July 2009)..

Facebook's potential for pitfalls and misunderstandings, when your nearest and dearest disagree with your latest status updates and personal opinions, means that keeping your friends circle exclusive, is perhaps the most prudent thing to do.

How much is too much? Well, if you're a Facebook fanatic and have been looking up primary school playmates to "add", don't be surprised if you're left with a lot of permanent "pending" friend requests from your former playground buddies who'd rather ignore you than face an awkward and fake online reunion.

You know you're pushing the envelope with social networking, when half your "friends" are the ones you haven't seen or spoken to since you were 12 (and you're now twice-divorced with five kids).

Those of us who tend to measure our real-life popularity by the number of "friends" we collect (like stamps) on our profiles may be disappointed by recent studies.

Experts who have looked into the social networking phenomenon say that we will only have, on average, a total of 10 true friends, throughout our lifetime. So who are they other 490 faces on your Facebook friends list?

Remember the 'quality over quantity' rule? Personally, I think that maybe it's time to re-evaluate the Facebook frenzy, fan pages and friends - and get a life!