When you first sign up to Facebook you will automatically start with zero friends.
There are a number of ways to boost your total number of friends quickly, either by importing your contacts list from your phone or buy finding a close friend, adding them, and then adding everyone on their friends list that you also know.
As time goes on, you will naturally acquire more and more friends and they will sit on your profile within the ‘friends’ section.
On the preview of this section, you will see the profile pictures and names of six of your friends, regardless of whether you’re using Facebook on the mobile app or on a web browser.
In this article, we are going to look at whether it’s possible to select which six friends you want to sit in this preview, and also look at the possible factors which Facebook might consider when deciding which friends to automatically place in the preview.
How to change top 6 friends on Facebook – Do you have a say in the matter?
Unfortunately, there is no manual way for users to re-order or change the the top six friends that appear in the ‘friends’ preview menu.
You will notice over time, though, that it will change automatically and you may even have one set of six friends displaying in this area on the mobile app and then a completely different six on Facebook for web.
So, if you can’t change the order then why does Facebook? The answer lies within Facebook’s algorithm which determines which six friends are placed here based on a number of factors.
These include:
- Which friends you’ve interacted with recently.
- Which friends you’ve interacted with the most over the years.
- Which friends you’ve been tagged in the most pictures with.
- Which friends have written on your wall the most and vice versa.
- Which friends frequently comment on or like your Facebook posts, and vice versa.
- Which of your friends you’ve recently added.
- Which friends are currently online.
Facebook considers all of these factors, and many more, to gain a picture of who your top friends are then places them as the top six front and centre in your ‘friends’ preview box on your profile.
How to manipulate who ends up as your top six friends
Just because you can’t manually select who you want to be placed in your top six friends on Facebook, there are ways in which you can manipulate the app to try and get certain people in there (or more importantly, out of there).
The process is really simple – you just have to interact with certain accounts more frequently than you usually would and you should soon see them appear in your top six friends.
For reference, use the bulleted list above to ensure you are engaging with said account in the ‘right’ way.
That means if you want people to appear in your Facebook friends list – commenting on your friend’s picture directly or leaving wall posts on their account will tell the Facebook algorithm that you’re close friends, and they’ll be more likely to appear in your top 6.
If you are looking to get rid of someone from your top six friends then do the opposite – simply stop interacting with them on the app.
If you one to go one step further then you could even consider unfriending them on the platform or blocking them.
How to remove someone as a friend on Facebook
The process of removing someone as a friend on Facebook is really easy and can be done either on the mobile app or on a web browser.
The person you are ‘unfriending’ won’t be notified and they will only notice if they search for you on the platform and see that you are no longer friends with each other.
To remove someone as a friend on a web browser, please follow these steps:
- Log on to your Facebook account.
- Search for the person you wish to remove via the search bar and select their profile.
- Select the blue ‘friends’ button and then select ‘unfriend’.
- Select ‘confirm’ to complete the process.
To remove someone as friend on Facebook via the mobile app, please follow these steps:
- Log on to your Facebook account.
- Search for the person you wish to remove via the search bar and select their profile.
- Select the grey ‘friends button’ and then select ‘unfriend’.
- Select ‘ok’ on the next pop up box to complete the process.
This is the only sure fire way to change who appears in your top six friends on Facebook, so if you really don’t want a certain person appearing on the front page of your Facebook profile then please do follow these instructions to get them swiftly removed.
Conclusion
To conclude, Facebook is yet to implement any sort of functionality which allows users to manually select which six friends appear as their top six on their profile.
As a result, users are left with limited options when it comes to manipulating who does and/or doesn’t appear here.
You can easily change your Facebook birth date or clear your Facebook cache data, but not make your own top six.
Nevertheless, we hope that the information provided above has helped you to gain a better understanding of how Facebook’s algorithm works in relation to this issue and also giving you some tips for if you are going to go ahead and try and manipulate your top six list.