Example: A friend commented on one of my photo, ending with a statement critical of her place of employment. This comment could be read by all of my friends – including someone else who works there (albeit in another department and not the snitchy sort).

I once had a good row with my partner over adding a couple of professors I know in her department as well (though my Ma supervisor is in her department, I am actually stationed within another). She argued that I was not, in fact, “friends” with the professors, and that it was in fact a professional relationship that shouldn’t transgress that boundary. I argued that Facebook didn’t leave me with any other choice but the term “friend”, and that users of the community were aware of the troublesome nature of that term, but forced to use it to define their network of relationships.

It always comes down to semantics, doesn’t it?

Good luck with the “cuts.” It’s probably best done in your finest Homer Simpson voice, although it’s going to suck either way.

Letting people select which friends to show which elements would be horribly obtuse but that level of control is exactly why some people I know have 2 profiles.. one for private friends and another for more open networking.

Livejournal seems to have always had great privacy control. Any livejournal post could be set to only show to a select few people. Either by picking them individually or by preset groups.