I think I am reasonably safe to say that I was one of the first amongst my friends to use facebook. Back then there was a very different outlook on what constituted a good set of friends. There was only one rule. More is better. At one point, once I had added just about everybody I know I had approaching 200 friends... I should say at this point that I have never been one for adding total strangers. I think the most random person I ever added was another Tom Dyer who happened to go to the same university as me.
Since 2007, though, people have become very aware of the security side of facebook and how it all works to make as much information about you as possible available to as many people as possible. The most notable issue over security is that, for the most part, there is nothing you can do about the loopholes as it is down to your friends security settings....
This, in itself, wouldn't be a problem aside from the fact that in 2008 facebook went mental and just about half the planet went and got themselves an account. These were the peak days where it appeared to be a race to gain as many friends as possible. Of course, a lot of these people did no more than join up and poke people for a couple of weeks and then get bored with the whole thing. These are the problem people as they were never on-line to set appropriate security settings when all the changes to facebook happened in 2009. The changes that gave access to YOUR information through your friends.
In the past year or so my friends total has gone down from ~180 to a new low last night of 61 people. This doesn't mean that I have fallen out with 120 people but more I have decided that if you are my friend (or contact) on facebook but I haven't actually seen anything from you this year then I will take you off my contacts list.
I am thinking that in time - and probably soon. Facebook will instil enough confidence in its 'lists' that I can re-add all the contacts I have since removed and I can be sure the information I share to a certain set wont be seen by another. This confidence is still a way off though in my head so I am thinking better safe than sorry at the moment....
So. Right now quality is more than quantity....
