Jimmy Kimmel's "Unfriend Day" Is A Hot Start-up Idea
Comedian Jimmy Kimmel may just be trying to make a funny late night TV bit by dubbing today Facebook “Unfriend Day.” But he’s also hit on one of the hottest tech start-up ideas.
The idea behind the day is to encourage people to take stock of their ballooning Facebook friend lists and to cull the marginal folks. Kimmel has been pushing the idea on his ABC show “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” this month, including even a theme song from country singers Brad Paisley and Darius Rucker. The idea seems to have some resonance with people, with “unfriend” turning into a trending topic on Twitter earlier on Wednesday.
In an interview Wednesday with the WSJ’s Video Network’s Simon Constable (see below), Kimmel said, “it just seemed to me that people are wasting a lot of time on Facebook talking to people or catching up with people they don’t want to catch up with.”
He said he actually has just 10 to 12 real friends. Most people on Facebook are “annoying,” he said. “No one needs to know what television show you’re watching or what you just ate, or if you’re feeling hungy, or tired or anything. … Share a little bit less, I think is the message here. For those who have Facebook, whittle it down to the people you really talk to.”
